The BackUp Plan
by WestmeetsEaston
Summary: Life doesn't always turn out the way you thought it would and sometimes a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Rachel thinks she's got everything under control but sometimes life has a way of screwing things up. Future Finchel.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** _Okay so I've been having a lot of Finchel feelings lately with the Finchelcourse coming up and the spoilers and the promo and such and it made me want to write another story. This is my first foray into a multi-chapter fic so please be kind. Let's see if I can write something other than just smut..lol. This fic is loosely based on the movie The Back-Up Plan. It's a really cute movie if you haven't seen it.  
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_Big thanks to Lauren for being a sounding board/hand holder on this story! _

_I don't have a beta so spelling and grammatical errors are all mine._

**Disclaimer:** _I do not own Glee or The Back-Up Plan_

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><p>"Rachel Berry?" the receptionist called, glancing up from her clipboard to look out into the waiting room.<p>

Rachel looked up and quickly closed the magazine she was reading before grabbing her bag and rising from her seat. She gave the receptionist a small smile before quietly following her down the hall.

"Here you go." The receptionist said, gesturing to an open door. Rachel stepped into the room, the receptionist right behind her.

"Get undressed and put on one of the gowns from the shelf by the sink. Dr. Prystawski will be with you shortly" The receptionist gave Rachel one final smile before leaving the room, closing the door behind her.

Rachel let out a little sigh and quickly undressed. Slipping on a gown, she hopped up on the exam table, her mind wandering. To say she was nervous about what she was about to do was an understatement but she was also a little sad as well. This is not how she imagined this would go but sometimes a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Rachel had come to New York City 15 years ago, a fresh-faced, eager 18-year old that had the world at her feet. She'd gotten great grades in her first three years of a Theatre Arts program at NYCDA and had just gotten a juicy part in the school's production of Annie Get Your Gun when tragedy struck. Her father Hiram had been driving home from picking up groceries when a drunk driver blew through a stop sign and struck his car head on. The police said he'd died instantly and for that she was thankful.

She'd immediately dropped everything and flown home to Ohio to be with her other father. She'd originally only planned on staying a few weeks but Leroy had had a difficult time adjusting to life without his husband and Rachel couldn't bear to leave him. Losing her father made her reevaluate a lot of things in her life. Suddenly her dream of being on Broadway and winning a Tony before she was 25 just didn't seem so important anymore. She tried to remember a time when she was most happy in her life and she was reminded of all the fun times she'd had in her high school Glee club. Sure she'd lost touch with mostly everyone since leaving high school, including the one person she had never wanted to lose touch with, her high school boyfriend Finn Hudson, but the times she'd spent in Glee Club had been some of the best times of her life.

Mr. Schuester, the Glee Club advisor had been an amazing educator and had inspired Rachel and the rest of the Glee Club members to reach for their dreams and to never give up. She would always be thankful to him for that and Rachel decided she wanted to be that person for someone else. She applied to the Musical Education program at NYU and although it had set her back a couple of years, at 25, she graduated third in her class and had immediately found a job teaching Music at an elementary school in Brooklyn.

She'd been teaching at the school for 8 years now and she loved it. To say that she never thought about Broadway and what could have been would have been a lie but she was happy and fulfilled with her job and she didn't regret her decision to give up a career on the stage. The smile on one of her student's faces when they discovered just how much they loved music was enough for her. In fact, there wasn't much about Rachel's life that she wasn't happy with. She loved her job, she loved her best friend Tina, the only person from her old Glee Club she'd kept in touch with, and she loved her small but cozy apartment in New York. The only thing missing from her life was someone to share it with and a child of her own. She couldn't seem to do anything about the former. She'd been on lots of dates over the years and she'd had a few relationships that lasted past a couple of dates, but her heart was never in it and she'd always end up breaking things off.

The truth was, Rachel had given her heart away a long time ago, and she'd never really gotten it back. Unfortunately some things were just out of her control and if there was one thing Rachel Berry hated it was not being in control. Because of this, Rachel decided to take control of the one thing she could do something about and that was having a child of her own. Sure it wasn't the conventional way of doing things and both Daddy and Tina had tried to talk her out of it several times but at 33, Rachel knew her biological clock was ticking and once she set her mind to something, it happened.

And that is how she'd ended up in a gown on an examination table in the doctor's office waiting for him to come in and begin the last part of the process that would hopefully end up with Rachel getting pregnant. More than anything Rachel wanted to be a mother and she wasn't going to let being on her own stop her from that. She'd tirelessly looked over donor profiles for 6 months before selecting one. Her donor was smart, athletic, and tall with dark hair, freckles and hazel eyes. Any similarities to a certain former love of her life were strictly coincidental. She'd selected this particular candidate through careful and thorough deliberation and after scrimping and saving for the last year, she'd saved up enough money along with a small loan from her Daddy for one round of IVF. This was her only chance at motherhood and she was praying it would work.

"Good Morning Rachel!" Dr. Prystawski's chipper voice interrupted Rachel's daydreaming. "Are we ready to make a baby?"

"As ready as I'm ever going to be Doctor." Rachel smiled, making eye contact with the kindly older gentleman.

"Okay just lay back and put your legs in the stirrups and try to relax. This won't take very long and then you will be on your way and hopefully pregnant very soon." The Doctor smiled at Rachel and walked over to the sink to wash his hands.

Rachel laid back and closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths to relax her body. Please let this work she thought as the Doctor began to go about his business down below. Rachel squeezed her eyes tight to take her mind off what he was doing and daydreamed about what her future child would look like. She pictured a beautiful little girl with dark curly hair just like Rachel's, hazel eyes and a smattering of freckles across her nose. Or a handsome little man with wavy brown hair, Rachel's chocolate coloured eyes and dimples in his cheeks. She pictured herself taking her daughter to her first Broadway show and for the briefest of moments she allowed her mind to wander to an image of a son playing catch with his father, a father who bore a striking resemblance to one Finn Hudson, but the sound of the doctor's voice quickly snapped her out of her reverie.

"Ok Rachel I'm all done," he said, pulling off his gloves and walking to the sink to wash his hands, "do you have any questions for me before I send you on your way?"

Rachel sat up and wiped a stray tear away. "Do..do you think it will work?" she quietly asked.

"You know I can't answer that Rachel." Dr. Prystawski said kindly. "Just do me a favour please and don't stress too much about it. That won't help things. Let's just hope for the best, okay?"

"Okay." Rachel murmered, giving the doctor a small smile.

"Okay good." He grinned. "Don't forget to make your next appointment with the receptionist on the way out." The doctor gave Rachel one last smile before leaving her alone to get dressed.

Rachel quickly hopped off the table and threw on her clothes and shoes. Grabbing her purse before leaving the exam room, she headed back down the hall to the reception desk and made an appointment to come back in two weeks time.

Stepping out of the doctor's office onto the busy sidewalk, Rachel squinted as her eyes adjusted to the bright afternoon sun. Slipping on her sunglasses she glanced at her watch for the time. It was just after 2pm and she'd taken the afternoon off so she didn't have to go back to work. She decided to pick up some takeout before heading home to phone Daddy and then Tina to let them know how things went. She was looking forward to having a relaxing night at home watching Funny Girl and lounging in a bubble bath.

Rachel stepped to the curb and raised her arm, yelling "Taxi." A yellow cab immediately pulled to the side of the street in front of her and Rachel reached out to grab the handle of the door. Just as she did, another hand shot out from beside her, grabbing the handle at the same time she did.

"Excuse me but this is my cab." Rachel said, turning to look at the owner of the hand, a gasp escaping her lips as she made eye contact with the person trying to steal her cab. The years had been good to him. He was still as handsome as ever, even with the bits of gray beginning to show around his temples. Her breath caught in her throat as he gave her one of his signature lopsided grins, the one she used to imagine he saved only for her.

"Rach? Is that you?" he exclaimed before pulling her into his arms and crushing her small frame against him in a warm embrace.

"Finn." Rachel breathed, before everything went black.

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><p><strong>Reviews are love<br>**


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: **I've discovered I am great at writing smut but everything else I suck at. Here's Chapter 2. I hope you enjoy it. I have no beta so all mistakes are mine._

_**Disclaimer: **I own nothing_

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><p>"I think she's starting to come around. Rach, can you hear me?"<p>

An oddly familiar voice broke through the fog in her head and Rachel slowly opened her eyes, confused at what was going on. Last thing she remembered was hailing a cab after leaving the doctor's office and now she seemed to be lying on the sidewalk. She looked up to find several faces looking down on her with concern.

"What happened?" She said, shielding her eyes from the glaring sun and trying to sit up.

"Just lay still for a minute Rach. You just fainted" spoke a familiar voice. Rachel's heart skipped a beat as she remembered who the voice belonged to. She scanned the faces hovering over her before making eye contact with him, a look of worry on his face.

"I'm fine now" she blurted out, jumping quickly to her feet, swaying a little from the abrupt change of position.

This couldn't be happening. Finn Hudson was not standing in front of her right now. He was supposed to be back in Ohio. After graduation, she had begged him to come to New York with her but he'd stayed on to manage the tire shop after his stepfather Burt was elected Senator while they were in their senior year. She'd been heartbroken but she had told him at the end of their junior year of high school that she had a dream and no one and nothing was going to stop it. They'd emailed back and forth a few times but her workload at school was heavy and truth be told, it hurt too much to talk to him so eventually she just stopped answering his emails. She'd heard through Tina that Finn had eventually gone on to community college after Burt got out of office and had gotten a job as a drafter at an architectural firm in Lima but that was all she knew. Tina and Daddy knew that Finn was a sore spot for her so they'd never brought him up and she always managed to avoid running into him whenever she'd been home to visit. Luckily she'd convinced her father to move his legal practice to New York a few years back and now she never had reason to go back to Lima. Rachel thought she'd done a pretty good job of slapping a band-aid over the Finn Hudson wound in her heart and seeing him standing in front of her right now, a look of deep concern on his face, was not something she had bargained for. The shock of seeing her past love after 15 years had combined with the immensity of the procedure she had just undergone moments before and her body simply couldn't handle the overload, causing her to faint.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Finn said, holding Rachel's elbow to steady her. His brow furrowed in concern as he looked down at his tiny, beautiful ex-girlfriend. He couldn't believe his luck. He'd only moved to the city a month ago. The architecture firm he worked at had acquired an office in New York and Finn had been selected to oversee the drafting department. He had been working towards his architecture degree for a couple of years now, taking classes part-time by correspondence, and he only had a year left before he would be a full-blown architect. He worked full-time at the office during the day and had enrolled in night classes at the New York Institute of Technology.

After his step-dad got elected to Senate in Finn's senior year of high school, Finn had taken over the tire shop for him. Rachel had begged him to follow her to New York but he wasn't sure what he wanted to do with his life and he didn't want to drag Rachel down. She was a star and she needed to shine. He would have just held her back from her dreams. He'd tried keeping in touch with her after graduation but her emails became shorter and more perfunctory until eventually she just stopped emailing him back. He was heartbroken for her when he heard her Dad had died but he'd stayed away out of respect. He wasn't sure if she would have even wanted to see him. He figured she had stopped emailing him because she had found someone else and he didn't want to impose or make anyone uncomfortable. He'd heard through Mike that Rachel had changed her major and become a Music teacher after her Dad died. He was happy for her. He always knew she was good with kids and he knew she'd make a wonderful teacher.

Finn had spent the last 15 years trying to find himself. For so many years he had felt lost, unsure of what he wanted to do or who it was he wanted to be, and he'd gone through life on autopilot for the most part. He went to work, he came home, he drank a few beers, he ate, he watched football, and he went to bed, day in and day out. Sure he'd been on a few dates and he'd even had a couple of girlfriends that lasted past the third date but his heart had never been in it and he would always find some reason to break it off. The truth was, Finn had given his heart away a long time ago, and he'd never really gotten it back. Finn had come to New York because he knew it was a great opportunity for him to move ahead in his career but a tiny part of him had to admit that he'd also come to New York for Rachel. For so long he had felt like something was missing in his life and suddenly that missing piece was standing right in front of him.

"What are you even doing here Finn?" Rachel whispered, finding the crack on the sidewalk in front of her extremely interesting all of a sudden.

"I live here now." He replied. "My company transferred me here about a month ago."

"You live here?" Rachel said with astonishment, her head snapping up in shock. "In New York?"

"That's what I just said." Finn said, flashing Rachel a lopsided grin. "Why do you sound so surprised?"

"I just..I thought you hated New York." She said quietly, staring at her feet.

"I never said I hated New York." Finn said in an equally quiet voice. "God it is so good to see you Rach!" Finn pulled Rachel into another bear hug, lifting her off her feet.

"It's good to see you too Finn." Rachel spoke as Finn placed her back on the ground. "You look really good. I've got to be going though. I have a thing..a place I need to be. It was really good seeing you Finn. Take care."

Rachel quickly stepped around Finn and hurriedly moved down the sidewalk, willing her heart to return to a normal pace. What was wrong with her? Why did this man have such an effect on her after all these years? Life was going just the way she wanted it. Okay maybe not exactly the way she wanted it but she was getting by and she was doing what she had to do to get what she wanted and suddenly Finn shows up and she can't even think straight or remember what it was that she wanted in the first place. Damn him for doing this to her. She was going to go home, order in some Chinese food, take a long hot bath and try to forget that she ever ran into Finn Hudson. So what if she'd thought about this moment for 15 years. She finally had things going where she wanted, her life was on track and no way in hell was she letting Finn throw a chink in her plans. No way, no how.

"Rachel, wait!" Finn said, turning to chase after her. Damn she moved fast. He managed to catch up with her after a minute and grabbing her arm to stop her, he pulled her around to face him.

"Let me go Finn, I have somewhere I have to be." Rachel said, trying to avoid Finn's eyes. He always had that ability to see right through her and she knew if she made eye contact with him he'd be able to see how scared she was and that she was lying through her teeth.

Finn relinquished his hold on Rachel's arm, bringing both his hands up in a mock surrender.

"I haven't seen you in 15 years Rach. So sue me if I wanted to spend more than just a minute or two with you."

Rachel could hear the hurt in Finn's voice and her heart clenched a little. There had been a time in her life when this man standing in front of her had been everything to her, sometimes she felt like he still was. A few more minutes of talking to him wouldn't hurt would it? And it wasn't like she had a lot of friends in this city despite the length of time she'd lived here. Other than Daddy and Tina, she didn't really have a lot of people she could call friends. She had hung out from time to time with a few of the other teachers at her school but they were all married with kids or kids on the way and she always felt out of place. It wouldn't hurt her to have another friend in this city. Even if that friend was the former love of her life and the person she'd always imagined spending the rest of her life with.

"I'm sorry Finn. I guess I'm just a little freaked out that you are here, in New York. I wasn't expecting to see you. It just caught me off guard that's all." Rachel smiled nervously.

"I'm kind of surprised by it myself." Finn chuckled, shoving his hands in his pockets. Even with the graying hair and lines around his eyes, he still looked like the boy she once knew when he smiled at her with that dopey grin of his, deep dimples breaking out on his face. "When my boss approached me with this job offer a few months ago I was taken back but this is a really great opportunity for me and I couldn't turn it down."

"What exactly is it that you do?" Rachel queried. She knew full well what Finn Hudson did for a living but she sure as hell wasn't letting him know that she'd ever asked around about him. He'd probably find that pathetic.

"Why don't you let me take you to dinner Rach." Finn said. "I can fill you in on what I've been up to since we last saw each other."

Rachel looked like she was going to say something and then changed her mind.

"Just two old friends having a bite to eat and catching up." Finn hastily threw in, sensing Rachel's hesitation and not wanting to freak her out.

"I don't know Finn. I've had a really long day and I have a bunch of phone calls I need to make. Maybe another time."

"Come on Rach. It isn't even 3'o clock yet. Your day is barely half over so you can't really say it's been a long one. Let me buy you supper."

Finn ran a hand through his hair, flashing Rachel that puppy dog look of his and she could feel her resolve fading. I guess an innocent dinner amongst old friends couldn't hurt. She was pretty hungry. She would keep the conversation professional. He would tell her about his job and she would tell him about hers. She'd catch up on how his family was and she'd let him know how her family was and they'd enjoy a nice meal together. Finn absolutely did not need to know what she had been up to today and after the meal was over they would go their separate ways and that would be that.

"I guess I could use something to eat." Rachel said, a small grin forming on her face. "But I can pay for myself. I know a great little vegan place a few blocks from here."

"If you insist," Finn said, mentally pumping his fist in the air at Rachel's agreement to a dinner date. "Lead the way."

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><p><strong>Reviews are love<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N:** Thank you so much to everyone who has read and reviewed this story. I was super nervous about writing something other than smut but I am having so much fun writing it and I am glad you are all enjoying it as much as I am. Mistakes and spelling errors are mine. Enjoy!_

_**Disclaimer:** I own nothing  
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><p>"So do you come here a lot?" Finn asked after him and Rachel had been seated in a booth at the back of the restaurant.<p>

"I order take out from here at least once a week but I rarely eat in." Rachel replied, taking a sip of her water. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh I was just curious. I figured your boyfriend brings you here a lot." Finn said, nervously playing with the edge of the napkin.

"I don't have a boyfriend" Rachel replied, a small smirk forming on her lips, well played Hudson, well played.

Finn gave Rachel a sheepish grin. So Rachel was single. Perfect. This was going better than he hoped.

"So tell me what you've been up to all this time" Rachel asked after the waiter had taken their order. "How's the family? Do you still talk to anyone from Glee club?"

"Mom is doing really well. She's still working at the hospital but she's looking to retire in a few years. Burt retired from office as you might have heard and he's back running the tire shop again. He hired an assistant manager a few years back and he's grooming the kid to take over for him eventually so he can retire as well.

"I figured he would leave the tire shop to you or Kurt" Rachel murmured quietly, almost to herself.

"The tire shop wasn't for me Rach." Finn said, a hint of indignation in his voice. "I did it for a few years but it was only to help out Mom and Burt. I didn't want to make a career out of it."

"So what's Kurt up to these days" Rachel asked, quickly changing the subject when she realized her last remark had struck a nerve with Finn.

"Kurt's doing really well actually. He lives in Toronto now."

"As in Canada?" Rachel said with a hint of surprise in her voice. "I figured he would have ended up in New York like I did. He always said he wanted to."

"Well he likely would have ended up here eventually if he hadn't gotten the job he did. He's head buyer of the men's accessories department for Holt Renfrew. It helped that Blaine found a job in Toronto as well."

"Oh wow, him and Blaine are still together? That's so great for them!" Rachel replied.

"They're actually married now." Finn said with a smile. "They got married last spring. It's legal in Canada."

"Wow." Rachel said a bit sadly. "I guess some people do find their true love in high school."

"I thought we did." Finn said, barely above a whisper, part of him hoping Rachel had heard him and part of him hoping she hadn't.

Rachel pretended not to hear Finn's remark. Truth was, she thought they'd found true love in high school too but she wasn't about to let Finn know that she agreed with him. If there was anything she'd learned over the years it was that true love didn't mean squat. If Finn had truly loved her in high school he would have come to New York with her but he didn't and she had almost stayed behind and gave up her dream for him. He didn't know about that though. Rachel had learned how to take care of herself over the last 15 years and she didn't need true love. She had taken matters into her own hands and gone after what she wanted and she was proving to the world that you didn't need true love or someone to spend your life with in order to get what you wanted. Rachel had taken the bull by the horns and was forging ahead on her own. True love was a sham.

So what if many nights Rachel lied awake in her bed, wondering what her life would have been like if she'd stayed behind for Finn or if he'd have come after her. She'd be lying to herself if she didn't admit that Finn was a big reason that none of her previous relationships had worked out and if she was being truly honest with herself, Finn was a big part of the reason why she had decided to have IVF to conceive a child. Whenever Rachel had pictured herself having children, they had always been Finn's children. She couldn't imagine having children with anyone but Finn and she had been heartbroken at the realization that that was never going to happen. Instead, she had decided to have a child with a nameless, faceless stranger.

Rachel had never really gotten over Finn, even after 15 years. She thought she'd done a pretty good job of burying her feelings but seeing him again after all this time, the feelings immediately came rushing back and she felt like she was 18 years old again, sitting in front of the boy she thought she was going to spend the rest of her life with. Rachel could feel tears welling up in her eyes and thankfully the waiter picked just that moment to show up with their meals, saving her the embarrassment of crying in front of Finn.

The tension in the air was palpable and Finn was grateful when the waiter showed up with their meals. Rachel's silence after his little remark was deafening and Finn's mind raced. He was freaking her out, he could tell. There were so many things he wanted to say to her. He wanted to tell her that he hated himself for not following her to New York he'd regretted that decision everyday since. He wanted to tell her how sorry he was for breaking her heart and to tell her that he had broken his own heart in the process and it had never really healed. He wanted to tell her that he'd always felt like a piece of him was missing and he hadn't felt whole in years. Not until he ran into her on that sidewalk less than an hour ago. He wanted her to know that not a day went by that he didn't think about her and wonder what she was doing. If he was being truly honest with himself Finn had never stopped loving Rachel and even though he'd tried burying those feelings deep down inside of himself, the longer he spent with Rachel the more those feelings came rushing back. She was the reason he had taken the job in New York. He could have taken a position at the Chicago office but had opted for the New York one because he knew Rachel lived there. Finn was saved from himself and the word vomit that was seconds away from flying out of his mouth by the arrival of the waiter carrying their meals.

"So do you still talk to anyone from our old Glee Club?" Rachel asked between bites of her salad.

"A few of them." Finn replied, thankful for the change in subject. "Artie is a sound engineer at a recording studio in Nashville. I haven't talked to him in a few years though. Mike runs his own dance studio in Columbus. I talk to Puck from time to time as well. He still lives in Lima. He's married with kids now."

"Noah's married?" Rachel exclaimed, taking a sip of her water. "To who?"

"Quinn." Finn replied with chuckle.

"Seriously?" she spluttered, coughing on her drink. "That's crazy."

"Yup. They have two boys, 5 and 7. Samuel and David. I figured Shelby would have told you. Beth spends every summer with them."

"Shelby and I don't talk." Rachel said curtly.

"You haven't told me what you've been up to all this time?" Finn said, sensing that Shelby was a sore spot for Rachel and changing the subject.

Truth was, Finn had a pretty good idea of what Rachel had been up to all this time. His mother had kept in touch with Leroy over the years and she was always eager to let him know what Rachel was up to. He was pretty sure that Rachel had no idea about that though.

"Well I did the musical theatre thing for a few years but then I'm sure you know that my Dad passed away." She said quietly.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that." Finn said, placing his hand over Rachel's. "I wanted to come to pay my respects but I thought it best if I stayed away. I didn't want to upset you more than you already were."

"Thank you. It was a long time ago."

Rachel pulled her hand away from Finn's under the guise of having to grab her water glass. A look of hurt flashed across Finn's face for a fleeting second but Rachel still caught it. Finn's hand had felt so warm and soft on hers and a jolt of electricity so strong that she thought he had felt it too had shot through her hand at the contact. She'd pulled away in embarrassment at how quickly he could reduce her to this state. One look, one touch and 15 years melted away. What in the hell was wrong with her.

"So after Dad passed away I reevaluated where my life was heading and I decided to change majors and become a teacher instead. I wanted to share my love of music with others and maybe even inspire some kids like Mr. Schuester did for us you know? I got my degree and I've been teaching Music at PS 87 ever since. It's so rewarding to see the smiles on their little faces when they get to sing for me and I love singing with them. Teaching music is the best of two worlds. I get to sing to a captive audience everyday and I get to inspire young minds while doing it."

Finn watched Rachel's face light up as she talked about her job. It was obvious that she loved teaching and he was happy that she was doing something she loved. He'd often wondered over the years whether she regretted giving up her dreams of Broadway but he could tell she was happy and fulfilled with the life she had chosen and he guessed at some point her dreams had just changed.

Rachel was just about to tell Finn a funny story about one of her kids when she was interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone. She glanced at the caller ID to see that it was Daddy calling. He was probably wondering what was going on since she had told him she would call him as soon as she got out of her appointment.

"It's Daddy. I was supposed to call him earlier. He's probably worried." Rachel said, giving Finn an apologetic smile before answering her phone.

"Hello Daddy." Rachel said. "I'm sorry I forgot to call you but I ran into an old friend and we were just catching up."

"It went fine. I'll tell you all about it later but I'm just in the middle of something right now so can I call you back in a little bit?"

"Okay daddy I will. Love you too."

Rachel hung up the phone and gave Finn a small smile. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine. Mom always calls to check up on me too despite the fact I'm over 30 years old. I think she still sees me as a dopey, clumsy 17 year old." Finn replied with a chuckle. Rachel gave a small laugh and took a bite of her salad, a somewhat comfortable silence falling over their table.

Finn had tried not to eavesdrop on Rachel's conversation but she was sitting right across from him and the restaurant was fairly quiet due to the hour of the day. Lunch rush was long over and it was still too early for dinner. They were the only people in the restaurant other than the wait staff so really Finn had no choice but to listen to Rachel's end of the conversation and now he was curious as to what she was talking about that had gone fine. He was just about to ask her when her voice interrupted his thoughts.

"So what has Finn Hudson been doing with himself all these years?" Rachel asked.

"Well after Burt retired I went to school and became a drafter. I've been working at the same architecture firm since I graduated. I've also been taking night classes towards an architecture degree. I've got about a year left before I'm done. In the meantime, my company offered me the job in the NY office a few months ago. It was a great opportunity for me career wise and I needed a change so I took the transfer and here I am."

"That's so great Finn. I'm so happy for you. An architect. Wow. I always knew you were destined to do great things." Rachel said with a smile on her face.

"You always did believe in me Rach, even when nobody else did." Finn said softly, looking deep into Rachel's eyes.

He couldn't take it anymore. He'd waited so long to see Rachel again and all the feelings he had for her that he thought he'd buried long ago had bubbled right back up to the surface and he couldn't control himself. Quickly, before he lost his nerve, he raised himself up and over the table and leaned forward, the urge to kiss Rachel so intense he thought his heart would stop beating.

Finn moved so fast that Rachel's brain didn't have time to register what was going on before she felt his lips gently brush against hers and a jolt of electricity shot through her making every hair on her body stand up. This can't be happening she thought. I'm not ready for this. I have a plan. I'm finally doing what I want and making things happen and this was not in my plans she thought, starting to freak out.

"I..I can't. I'm sorry Finn." Rachel cried, jumping up and grabbing her purse. She ran out of the restaurant leaving a stricken Finn standing there with a sick sense of déjà vu.

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><p><strong>Reviews are love <strong>


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N:** Thank you so much to everyone for reading and reviewing this story and/or adding it to thier favourites or story alerts. I am so glad everyone is enjoying this story as much as I am enjoying writing it. _

_Someone asked if Mike and Tina were still together and the answer is no. Sorry if I didn't make that clearer. I tend to only focus on Finchel in my stories so I have a hard time focusing on anyone who isn't them. _

_Anyway, enjoy the latest chapter. After tonight's episode we will all be dead._

_**Disclaimer:** I own nothing except any spelling or grammatical errors.  
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><p>"I still can't believe you just left him there at the restaurant. It's like high school all over again."<p>

"Oh thank you so much for that." Rachel sighed, adjusting the incline on her treadmill and picking up the speed at which she was running.

A week had passed since Rachel had run out on Finn at the restaurant and she hadn't seen him or heard from him since. She couldn't really blame him though after she just left him standing there with no explanation. He also had no way of getting a hold of her so it wasn't like she was actually expecting him to call her but a small part of her wished he had of.

"Look I know we're not supposed to talk about Finn or whatever but you and I both know he's all you've been able to think about in the last week. You should just call him. What could it hurt?" Tina gave her friend a sheepish grin. She'd never seen Rachel so unhinged before. She was practically attacking the treadmill with her feet she was running so hard on it.

"I have no way of getting a hold of him. Besides, I highly doubt he wants to hear from me. He's probably sorry he ever ran into me that day. I treated him pretty horribly."

"Rachel this is Finn we are talking about. He'd rope the moon for you if you asked him to."

"We're not kids anymore Tina. Whatever Finn and I had together ended a long time ago. I never wanted him to rope the moon for me. I only wanted him to come to New York with me. He never fought for me. Obviously he never loved me as much as I thought he did or he would have at least tried. I'm pretty sure whatever came over him at the restaurant was just a moment of temporary insanity. He was feeling nostalgic or something."

"I think you're wrong but you never listen to me anyway. How do you know Finn didn't come to New York because he knew you were here? Maybe this is your second chance at love. Everything happens for a reason you know. Don't be so quick to shut yourself off." Tina gave her friend a sympathetic smile before wiping her face with a towel and getting off her treadmill.

"Even if Finn did come to New York because I'm here, and I'm not saying that's what he did, it doesn't matter Tina. You're forgetting the glaringly obvious elephant in the room." Rachel stopped her treadmill and jumped down. She took a big swig from her water bottle before fixing her friend with an incredulous look.

"And what's that?" Tina said, as her and Rachel made their way back to the locker rooms. "What do you mean what's that? " Rachel said, flashing Tina a dirty look. "I could be pregnant. Do you forget I just got inseminated last week?"

"No I didn't forget." Tina said, rolling her eyes at Rachel. "I just don't see what the problem is. You don't even know if you are pregnant yet. And so what if you are. You always said you wanted to have kids with Finn. Besides, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. I'm not saying you and Finn should get married next week. I'm just saying that maybe you should invite him into your life Rach. He was such a big part of it once and even if things don't end up going the romantic route, you could always use another friend. I mean who else do you hang out with besides me?"

"Your Dad doesn't count." Tina added hastily, anticipating her friends retort. "I think you should just call Finn and apologize for running out on him and tell him you just want to be friends. What harm could it do? Just think about it okay. But whatever you do, don't tell him you got inseminated. You can cross that bridge when you get to it."

Tina grabbed her things and headed to the showers, leaving Rachel standing by her locker, lost in thought.

'You can do this.' She thought to herself, nervously turning her cell phone over and over in her hand as she paced back and forth across her classroom. 'This is Finn we are talking about. You've known him forever. Stop being such an idiot and just pick up the phone and call him. Why are you so nervous?'

Rachel had been thinking about her earlier conversation with Tina all morning and as stubborn as Rachel could be sometimes, she had finally decided that Tina was right. Having another friend in this city couldn't hurt.

Rachel realized she didn't even know what company Finn worked for so on her lunch break she'd called her father and asked him if he knew. He never said a word about the fact that she was asking about Finn after all this time and she figured he'd known all along that Finn was in New York so she wasn't the least bit surprised when he'd immediately told her the name of Finn's company. She'd looked his company up online and got his number off the staff directory but she'd spent the last half hour working up the nerve to call it and her free period was almost over.

"This is ridiculous. Get a hold of yourself." she said out loud, her voice echoing in the empty classroom. Sitting back down at her desk, Rachel dialed the number and waited.

"Finn Hudson's office. How may I help you?" Spoke a cheery voice on the other end of the line.

"Could I speak to Finn please?" Rachel replied pleasantly.

"I'm sorry but he's out of the office for the afternoon. Can I take a message?"

"No, no message. I'll try him again another time." Rachel replied sadly.

"Is this Lauren?" the receptionist asked. "He told me if you called to let you know he'd be a little bit late tonight."

Rachel's stomach dropped. How could she have been so stupid? Of course Finn had a girlfriend. Rachel had never even thought to ask him at dinner and then he had kissed her and she'd run out. Tina was right. It was like high school all over again. Finn had kissed her when he was dating Quinn and now he was doing it all over again. What an idiot she was.

"Ma'am? Are you still there?"

"Yes, sorry. It's not important. I'll try him back some other time. Thank you." Rachel hastily hung up the phone.

Rachel began pacing the room again. She was angry with herself for being so stupid as to think that her and Finn could have another chance and she was even angrier that she'd let Tina put that thought into her head in the first place. The more she thought about it, the stupider she felt and she could feel hot tears spring to her eyes. Just as Rachel was about to lay her head down on her desk and wallow in misery, the school bell rang, signaling that the period was over. Taking a deep breath, Rachel ran a hand over her face and plastered on a smile, preparing to greet the 20 little musicians who would be lining up at her door any minute.

A smile slowly spread across Finn's face as he watched Rachel finishing up her music lesson. He'd been standing in the hall outside her classroom for the last 5 minutes, watching her through the small window in her door.

He'd taken the afternoon off work so that he could have a chance to talk to Rachel. He wanted to apologize for kissing her and scaring her off. He wasn't actually sorry for kissing her but he was sorry that he'd upset her so badly that she'd bolted. Finn watched as Rachel walked over and began writing something on the blackboard, her long dark hair swishing softly from side to side as she moved and Finn couldn't help but think about how good the years had been to her. She was still as beautiful as ever. It was no wonder he wasn't able to control himself the last time he saw her. A familiar feeling of desire bubbled up inside of him as he thought about the way her lips had felt on his. He was startled out of his thoughts by the loud peal of the school bell.

"Goodbye my loves. I'll see you tomorrow." Rachel turned to wave at the kids as they left. Her breath caught in her throat as she made eye contact with Finn through the classroom door. She made her way over to the door, her heart beating so wildly she thought he'd be able to hear it.

"How did you…what are you doing here Finn?" Rachel asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I came to apologize, Rach. I never should have kissed you the other day. I was out of line. I've felt awful since. You told me at the restaurant that you worked at PS 87 so I knew where to find you. The receptionist in the office was reluctant to let me in here. I think she thought I was a serial killer or something but I laid on some of that Finn Hudson charm and she finally relented." Finn flashed Rachel a lopsided grin and pointed to the visitors badge clipped to his pants.

"Mrs. Rowinski can be…difficult sometimes" Rachel offered, unable to control the small smile that formed on her face at the thought of Finn flirting with the crazy old lady who worked in the school office.

"I really am sorry Rach. I don't know what came over me the other night and I'm sorry that I made you so uncomfortable that you felt you had to run off. It was like Sardi's all over again." He chuckled nervously.

"Yes well it seems like we're both guilty of reenacting high school moments this week aren't we?" Rachel said angrily, remembering her phone call to Finn's office earlier in the day.

"What are you talking about?" Finn said, looking equal parts baffled and amused at Rachel's emotional mood swings. Nice to see some things never change.

"I mean that both of us are repeating past behaviours this week. I ran out on you after a kiss and you failed to mention you had a girlfriend before you kissed me."

Rachel turned on her heel and stomped back into her classroom in a huff, Finn right behind her.

"What are you even talking about Rachel? I don't have a girlfriend." Finn said, his voice rising in exasperation.

"Oh ya? Then who is Lauren?" Rachel yelled, stabbing Finn in the chest with her finger.

"Seriously, Rach. What are you talking about?" Finn said, running a hand through his hair, a look of frustration on his face.

"I called your office earlier and your receptionist thought I was Lauren and let me know that you were going to be late tonight. For your hot date I'm sure." Rachel said with disdain.

Finn stared at Rachel a moment before a loud laugh escaped his mouth. "Oh my God!" he said, a huge grin breaking out on his face. "You're jealous."

"I most certainly am not." Rachel cried indignantly, her cheeks flushing bright red. She busied herself with gathering the papers on her desk and began shoving them into her briefcase. "And never mind because that is besides the point Finn Hudson."

"And what is the point Rachel Berry?" Finn said mockingly, the smile still on his face.

"The point is that you have a girlfriend so you shouldn't have been kissing me." Rachel's voice rose again. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to be going. I have dinner plans. Goodbye Finn." Rachel pushed past a bewildered Finn and made a beeline for her door.

"Would you stop running out on me?" Finn yelled, chasing after Rachel into the hallway. "If you must know, Lauren is a girl in my Calculus class." He said, lowering his voice. "We're study partners. That's all. I'm supposed to meet her tonight to prep for our midterm that's coming up."

"I'm not the same person I was 15 years ago Rach." He said, looking into her eyes. "I've changed and I know you have too. I was lying when I said that I didn't know what came over me at the restaurant. I know exactly what came over me, the same thing that always does when I am around you. You and I have a connection Rachel, a tether that binds us together and I know you feel it too but I'm sorry that I went too far at the restaurant. I was out of line and I apologize. Can we start over? I meant what I said on the sidewalk about wanting to be friends. We can do that can't we?" Finn reached over and brushed a stray strand of hair behind Rachel's ear.

"I.."

"Miss Berry is he your boyfriend?" a little voice interrupted.

Rachel turned to the little girl, one of her students from the kindergarten class, and gave her a big smile.

"No Mya he is not my boyfriend. He's just a friend."

"He's really cute." The little girl giggled, batting her eyelashes at Finn before running off to catch up with her friends.

"I guess that Finn Hudson charm works on ladies of all ages." Rachel laughed, turning to walk down the hall.

"So did you mean what you just said?" Finn asked, falling into step next to Rachel.

"About what?" Rachel said, momentarily confused.

"Am I your friend?"

"Yes." She replied softly, causing a huge grin to break out on Finn's face.

"Well great!" Finn replied, "So what happens now?"

"What happens now is that I am going to pick up some takeout, go home and pop in a movie and relax for the evening. I'll call you." Rachel replied, pausing for a moment at the outside doors of the school. She put her hand on Finn's arm for a moment, thoughts of how great his biceps felt through his dress shirt momentarily running through her head, before turning to walk outside.

"How about this?" Finn said, holding the door open for Rachel before following her out into the bright afternoon sun. "How about we walk together to the takeout place, get something to eat and then I will walk you home. That's something friends do right?"

Rachel hesitated for a moment before smiling up at Finn.

"Sounds good but there's just one thing." She replied.

"What's that?"

"I thought you had to study?" she said, a smirk playing at her lips.

"I thought you had dinner plans?"

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><p><strong>Reviews are love <strong>


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N:** I am blown away by the positive response I have been getting for this story. Thank you so much everyone. It really means a lot to me. Sorry it took me so long to update this chapter but I was having trouble figuring out how I wanted it all to go down. Also because I am a sadist I decided to take on writing this multi-chapter fic while I'm in the midst of moving across the country with my family so to say my life is busy right now is an understatement. Anyway, enjoy the latest chapter._

_**Disclaimer:** I own nothing except any spelling or grammatical errors._

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><p>Rachel checked her hair and makeup in the bathroom mirror for the third time in as many minutes, her nerves getting the better of her. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the white box sitting on the counter, taunting her. I'll worry about that later she thought. Shaking her head, she switched off the bathroom light and walked over to the full-length mirror in her bedroom to check her outfit again. She smoothed down the front of her dress and adjusted the bracelets on her arm before stealing another glance at the clock on the wall. He was late.<p>

A week had passed since Finn had shown up at Rachel's school to apologize for kissing her at the restaurant and they had spent a lot of time together since. Saturday night they had gone to see a movie. Finn had let Rachel pick and she'd made him sit through some sappy tearjerker. He'd almost fallen asleep he'd been so bored. On Monday he showed up at her school and they'd had a quick lunch together and Tuesday night they had gone for take out after work and then walked around Central Park. Finn had class Monday, and Wednesday nights so they didn't get to see each other on those nights but last night he had called her after he got home from school and they ended up talking on the phone for almost 3 hours, laughing and reminiscing about their Glee Club days. At the end of the phone call he'd asked if she had plans for the next night because he wanted to take her somewhere special. Unable to control herself, Rachel had agreed to the date. Finn hadn't told her where he was taking her though, stating that it was a surprise, but he told her to dress up nice and that he would pick her up at 7. It was coming up on 7:20 now and he still wasn't there and Rachel was just beginning to wonder if she'd been stood up when her doorbell buzzed.

"I'll be right down." She said, pressing the button on the intercom.

Grabbing her purse and sweater and turning out the lights, Rachel exited her apartment, making sure the door was locked behind her. Throwing on her sweater, Rachel headed towards the stairs, excited for whatever Finn had in store for her tonight. She loved surprises. As she rounded the last set of stairs, Rachel spotted Finn through the door of the apartment complex. He was facing away from her, his hands shoved in his pockets and as she skipped down the last few steps and made her way towards him, a familiar feeling of desire washed over her. Don't be silly, Rachel Berry, she mused to herself as she pushed open the door to her building. That ship sailed a long time ago.

Finn stuffed his hands in his pockets, staring out onto Rachel's street in contemplation while he waited for her to come downstairs. The last week of his life had been one of the best he'd had in a long time. He and Rachel had been spending a lot of time together since his classroom apology and it was beginning to feel like old times. His every waking moment was consumed with thoughts of her and at night he dreamed of her face. There was no doubt in his mind that 15 years later he was still head over heels in love with this girl. She had a hold on him like nobody else, they were tethered her and him, and Finn was determined to make Rachel see that they were still meant to be together. Finn had no idea why Rachel was holding back with him, claiming to only want to be friends, but he was confident that it was only a matter of time before her resolve crumbled and she realized that the two of them were soul mates. He hoped tonight would be a good start. Hearing the door behind him opening, Finn turned around, his breath catching in his throat when he laid eyes on her.

Rachel was dressed in a simple black form-fitting dress that fell to just above her knees with a soft pink cardigan over top. Her hair was swept into a loose bun at the base of her neck; a few loose tendrils framing her face. Her makeup was so natural looking that you almost couldn't tell she was wearing any at all and Finn was convinced he'd never seen anything or anyone more breathtaking.

"You look beautiful." He breathed, smiling widely at her as he caught her eye.

"Thank you." She said softly, her gaze taking in what he was wearing. "You don't look so bad yourself."

"What this old thing?" he grinned, gesturing to his navy blue blazer and un-tucked white button down shirt over a pair of dark-wash jeans. "It's just something I threw on."

"Whatever you say" she laughed, rolling her eyes at him. "So do I get to find out where you are taking me tonight?"

"Nope," He said, giving her a smirk. "You'll just have to wait and see when we get there."

Finn hailed a cab for them and then held the door open for Rachel so she could slide in before he got in behind her. He gave the driver the address and they were on their way.

"You're still Vegan right?"

"Yes I am. Why do you ask?" Rachel inquired, hoping Finn would reveal their destination. She knew the area of town they were heading to from the address Finn gave the cab driver but that was all she had to go one.

"Just wanted to be sure." He said, and then chuckled. "Remember that time in high school when I accidently fed you meat?"

"Of course!" she said. "You felt so bad you didn't tell me for weeks. I think you thought I was going to murder you or something. It wasn't like you fed me poison." She laughed before suddenly going quiet, a blush creeping up her face. "That was the night I botched our first attempt at lovemaking by opening my big mouth."

"Well that's true." He said, garnering a swat across the arm from Rachel. "But you did redeem yourself the next day and all was forgiven."

Before Rachel could say anything in reply, the cab pulled to a stop in front of what looked to be a home under renovation. Fencing surrounded the front of the building where construction equipment and scaffolding was set up and a large sign for "Bedrock Construction Co." was in one of the front windows. Finn paid the cab driver and then got out, holding his hand out to help Rachel out of the vehicle.

"What is this place?" she asked, staring up at the building.

"Oh its just one of the houses my company did some design work for. I'm friends with the guy who owns it so I called in a couple of favours." Finn winked at Rachel and held out his arm for her to take. Leading her up the stairs to the door, he pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the door, swinging it open and gesturing for Rachel to enter the building. She stepped inside the darkened house tentatively, her eyes adjusting to the dimness.

"I know there's a light switch around here somewhere." Finn muttered, feeling along the wall for it. Finding the switch, he flicked it on, bathing the room in light. Rachel squinted against the sudden change in light, taking in her surroundings. They were standing in the foyer or what looked to be a foyer. It was hard to tell because the inside of the house was one big mess. Construction equipment and tarps lay everywhere and a thick layer of drywall dust hung on everything in the room.

"You didn't bring me here to murder me did you?" Rachel giggled.

"Maybe." Finn said, winking at her before leading her towards the stairs in front of them.

They walked up the three flights of stairs in unison; the only sound between them the click of Rachel's heels, echoing loudly in the empty house. At the top of the steps they came to a door. Finn pulled out the set of keys again and rifled through them for a second to find the right one before unlocking the door.

"After you." He said, swinging the door open wide.

Rachel stared in awe at what she saw in front of her. The door led out onto a large rooftop terrace dominated by a beautifully landscaped garden complete with a trickling water fountain and two small benches. Several trees and bushes in the garden were decorated with white twinkle lights and in the middle of the terrace was a small table and chairs. The table was set for two and a large candle inside a vase sat in the middle, basking the table in its warm glow. To the side set a bottle of white wine, chilling in an ice basket.

"Oh wow! This is beautiful Finn!" she exclaimed, tearing up a little as she stepped through the door and got a better look at her surroundings. "Did you do all of this?"

"Pretty much." He said, with a shrug stepping out onto the terrace behind her. "I can't take credit for the garden though. That was already here."

"You didn't have to go to all that trouble for me." Rachel said quietly, looking down at her shoes.

"You're worth it." Finn murmured, quickly closing the space between them before placing a finger under Rachel's chin and gently lifting her face. Rachel's lower lip quivered in the slightest as she raised her eyes to Finn's and met his gaze. The look she saw there was a familiar one and she felt something stirring deep within her. Before she had a chance to even think about what she was doing and the consequences of her actions, the words spilled out of her mouth in a breathy whisper.

"You can kiss me if you want to."

"I want to." He said, before lowering his lips to meet hers in a passionate, fiery kiss.

And this time Rachel didn't stop him.

"I had a really wonderful time tonight." Rachel said, reaching over and putting her hand on top of Finn's as they sat in the backseat of the cab on its way back to her house.

"Me too." He said softly, turning to meet her gaze. He intertwined their fingers and brought their hands up to his mouth, gently kissing the top of her hand before bringing their hands back down to rest on his knee. They lapsed into comfortable silence, the night's events and what it all meant, replayed in both their heads as the taxi made its way through the city.

_After they shared a gentle but passionate kiss that both of them were reluctant to end, Finn had lead Rachel over to the table, pulling her chair out for her to sit down. He'd deftly cracked open the bottle of wine before pouring each of them a glass._

_"To old friends." Finn had toasted, raising his glass to Rachel_

_"And new beginnings." She had added, eliciting an eyebrow raise from Finn._

_After their toast, Finn had made a quick phone call and within 5 minutes the doorbell downstairs rang and Finn had run down, quickly returning with several bags. He'd pre-ordered dinner from a restaurant nearby complete with appetizer, main course and dessert for two. Rachel couldn't help but think about how much time and effort he must have put into planning this date and her heart swelled at the thought. They had talked animatedly through the entire meal, Rachel roaring with laughter at Finn's story about Kurt being a "bridezilla" during the run-up to his wedding to Blaine._

_After dinner Rachel had wanted to walk around the garden and look at all the flowers and afterwards they had sat down on one of the benches, listening to the soft trickle of the fountain as they looked up at the stars. They had sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. Rachel debated telling Finn about the fact that she might be pregnant and had pretty much decided to just come right out and tell him when he began talking._

_"I know you said that you just wanted to be friends Rachel and I respect that but I need to tell you something. I lied when I told you that I moved to New York because it was good for my career. I mean it was, but that wasn't the only reason. I also moved here because I knew you were here and if I'm being completely honest, that reason was the bigger one."_

_"I don't understand." Rachel said, turning to look at Finn. "If you moved to New York because of me why didn't you do it 15 years ago when I asked you to? Actually I begged you to do it and you didn't. You just let me go without a fight. I never understood that."_

_"I wanted to come with you Rach, I really did." Finn said, bringing his hand up to cup Rachel's cheek. "I tried to get into some of the schools here but I kept getting passed over for scholarships. Besides that, I didn't really know what I wanted to do with my life back then and I didn't want to hold you back. I told you once that I didn't know how to dream big like you. If I had come to New York with you I would have just ended up being a burden to you. I didn't want you to sacrifice your dreams for me. I figured I could stay around Lima for a year or two, save up enough money for university and hopefully have figured out what I wanted to do with my life by then, but then you and I lost touch and so I decided just to stay in Ohio."_

_"Why didn't you just tell me that at the time?" Rachel said, tears filling her eyes. "We could have saved ourselves a lot of heartache."_

_"I was embarrassed I guess." Finn replied, pulling his hand away to rub the back of his neck. "I didn't want you to think I was a huge fuck-up who couldn't even figure out what he wanted to do with his life and was too stupid to get a scholarship anywhere and was destined to be a Lima loser forever. And I didn't want you waiting around for someone like that."_

_"I never once thought you were a Lima loser. And if I thought you had wanted me to, I would have waited around for you forever." Rachel said softly before leaning in._

_And this time, Rachel initiated the kiss._

An hour later, Rachel sat on her bed thinking about Finn and wondering about the state of their relationship. Rachel and Finn had taken a cab back to her apartment and he had walked her to her door before kissing her once more. He hadn't asked to come in and she hadn't offered. Part of her was hoping that he would have asked and part of her wasn't because she was pretty sure she wouldn't have been able to control herself. Just before he had stepped in the elevator he had told her that'd he call her tomorrow and had flashed her that smile he saved only for her. So where did that leave them? Were they still just friends? Were they back together? All these questions swam through Rachel's mind as she sat there, but one big question had still gone unanswered and she could find out the answer to that one immediately.

Hopping off the bed, Rachel walked into her bathroom and picked up the box she'd left by the sink. She read the instructions carefully before taking the test and then sat it on the sink to wait. The results came almost immediately. As the liquid wicked across the response window, the moisture evaporated and in its place were two very distinct pink lines.

Without a doubt, Rachel Berry was pregnant.

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><p><strong>Reviews are love!<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N:** Sorry it took me so long to update but like I said before I am in the process of moving across country and also this chapter was the hardest to write. For all my diehard smut fans out there, your patience has paid off and this chapter has some smutty goodness in it for you. I hope you enjoy it. _

_Thanks again to everyone who is leaving me reviews and adding this story to alerts and favourites. Your support means the world to me and you guys are the reason I want to write. _

_**Disclaimer:** I own nothing..yadda yadda yadda_

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><p>"Let me get this straight. You've known about this for a week and a half now and you still haven't told Finn about it?" Tina asked, looking at her friend in disbelief.<p>

"I know." Rachel said, dropping her head into her hands. "What am I going to do?" she moaned.

The two friends were sitting in Dr. Prystawski's office waiting for him to come in and confirm or dispute Rachel's positive pregnancy test.

"I have no idea." Tina said, looking at her friend, "but hey, maybe it was a false positive. You might not even be pregnant."

"Congratulations! You're pregnant!" Dr. Prystawski said, walking into his office and taking a seat at his desk, facing the two women.

"Hey what's with the face? Isn't this what we wanted?" he said, noticing the look of shock and astonishment on both of their faces.

"She's just in shock." Tina said, rubbing her friends back. "She'll get over it soon enough."

Rachel just nodded her head, too freaked out to talk. She was definitely pregnant. She'd figured as much when she had taken the at-home test but a little part of her didn't want to believe it till she'd had it confirmed by a doctor. That was part of the reason why she hadn't told Finn yet. It wasn't that she hadn't had plenty of opportunity to tell him. Ever since their rooftop date, they had been spending every spare minute they had together. They hadn't put a label on anything yet but for all intents and purposes they were together again. They'd been keeping things PG, a lot of kissing and hand holding and watching movies together. They were taking things slow, learning how to be with each other again after so many years apart. They really were different people now but they still had that connection, that tether that held them together. Whenever they were with each other, the years seemed to melt away and it was like they were back in high school again. Rachel hadn't wanted to screw things up by telling Finn that she might be pregnant. She'd just gotten him back and she didn't want to lose him again. She figured that announcing she was carrying the child of a complete stranger might cause Finn to run in the other direction. She'd wanted to be sure she was actually pregnant and now she was. And she had no idea what she was going to tell Finn. She was finally getting what everything she had ever wanted only now she wasn't sure if the things she wanted were compatible with each other and she was afraid having one of them was going to cause her to lose the other.

"Ok well I'm going to need you to come back in a week so we can have a look at the baby. Please schedule an ultrasound appointment with the receptionist on your way out okay Rachel?" the doctor said kindly.

"I'll make sure she does." Tina replied, still rubbing the back of her silent friend.

"What am I going to tell Finn?" Rachel moaned to her friend as they left the doctor's office and started up the sidewalk.

"Just tell him the truth." Tina replied matter-of-factly. "Maybe he'll surprise you. This is Finn we're talking about after all. He thinks the world of you. I'm sure he'll understand. When is the next time you're going to see him?"

"Tomorrow night." Rachel replied, "He's cooking me dinner at his place."

"Okay so you'll go over there, you'll have a nice dinner together and then you'll just tell him that you have some wonderful news and come right out and tell him you're pregnant. And whatever you do, don't have sex with him."

"Tina!" Rachel hollered. "Finn and I haven't even talked about that yet."

"Well you better talk about it soon. I've heard that pregnancy causes women to be super horny all the time, something about all that extra blood flowing through your veins I think. Anyway, I remember what you two were like in high school. I'm surprised you've held out this long.

Rachel just glared at her friend as she walked to the edge of the curb to hail a cab. "Ok smartass, I'm going to go home now. I'll call you tomorrow."

"You're just mad because I'm right." Tina said, as the yellow cab pulled up in front of them.

Rachel just rolled her eyes at Tina and got into the cab, shutting the door behind her.

"Have a good time tomorrow!" Tina said, as the cab began to pull away. "And remember, NO SEX." She yelled as the cab drove off down the street.

"Lima has a Loverboy cover band?" Rachel asked, staring at Finn in disbelief.

"Well it used to but not anymore." He replied.

The delicious vegan dinner that Finn had cooked for him and Rachel was long since finished and they had moved to the couch to continue their conversation from dinner. Rachel had waited until Finn sat down before sitting down next to him and curling into his side, tucking her legs beneath her. Finn had his arm wrapped around his tiny companion, playing with her hair absentmindedly.

"So did you wear those cute red leather pants when you performed?" Rachel said giggling.

"Sometimes," Finn admitted, "but most of the time we just wore 80's style clothing.

"Oh how I wish I could have seen this." Rachel said; full-on laughing at this point.

"Hey now," Finn said, "I'll have you know that we got a lot of gigs. I was drumming two, sometimes three nights a week. Turn Me Loose was THE best Loverboy cover band in all of Ohio.

"Something tells me you guys were the ONLY Loverboy cover band in all of Ohio." Rachel said, still giggling.

"Look here smartass. Don't make me hurt you." Finn said jokingly. He started tickling Rachel all over till she was laughing so hard she couldn't breathe and begged him to stop.

"Uncle!" she cried, out of breath, smiling up at Finn. Rachel had squirmed so much while Finn was tickling her that she was now laying on her back across the couch.

"Hey." Finn said quietly, grabbing Rachel's hands and pulling her up to a sitting position.

"Hey what?" Rachel said.

"I wanted to ask you something." Finn pushed a stray strand of Rachel's hair behind her ear before cupping her cheek with his hand.

"Anything." Rachel said, swallowing thickly. Her heart was beating wildly at the look in Finn's eye as he stared deeply into her eyes.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" he said sheepishly, looking down at his lap, a bright red blush creeping up his neck and onto his cheeks.

"I thought you'd never ask." Rachel said grinning up at him.

"Really? I mean I know you said you wanted to just be friends but after that date on the rooftop well it just seemed like we weren't just friends anymore and things have been going so great since then and I didn't want to screw things up and move too fast or something and if this is moving too fast you can let me know. I won't be upset. I just..I just really missed you Rach and now that you're back in my life it feels like everything is right and complete and I just want to hold onto that feeling forever." Finn stopped to take a breath, looking up to see Rachel's reaction. He was startled when she suddenly swung her leg over his and sat down, straddling his lap.

"Do me a favour and stop talking okay." She said, grinning wickedly before crashing her lips down onto his in a heated kiss.

Tina's warning about no sex echoed in Rachel's head but she pushed it to the back of her mind. She figured it was the hormones but she was so turned on right now it was insane. Finn asking her to be his girlfriend in the most adorable way, the tickling, and picturing him drumming while wearing tight leather pants also contributed to the surge of desire that was currently coursing through her body.

Running her hands through Finn's hair, she pulled his lower lip into her mouth and nipped it with her teeth before darting out her tongue and running it across his lips, begging entrance. Finn obliged, moaning softly into Rachel's mouth as her tongue brushed past his lips.

Their tongues dancing together in sweet harmony, Finn ran his hand down Rachel's back, sliding it underneath her shirt and caressing the bare skin on her back. Rachel shivered at the contact, every nerve in her body responding to his touch. His fingers slid up till he found Rachel's bra, deftly undoing the clasp in one movement. Holding her steady on his lap with one hand splayed across her back, Finn slid his other hand around to caress the soft skin of Rachel's abdomen before bringing it up to cup her breast, kneading it gently in his hand. Rachel moaned loudly and arched her back, pressing herself against Finn's hand. She instinctually ground her hips down against Finn's growing erection, eliciting a deep growl from Finn.

Finn broke their kiss and stared at Rachel for a brief moment. Her lips were swollen and red from the kissing and he could see desire burning in her eyes. He pulled his hands out from Rachel's shirt and grabbed the front of it and swiftly ripped it open, buttons flying every which way. Rachel let out a soft mewl of appreciation as Finn slid her bra down her arms and tossed it to the side before lowering his head to gently pull a pebbled nipple into his mouth, lavishing attention on it. He gently teased her nipples, first one and then the other, all the while becoming more and more turned on by the sounds that were coming out of Rachel's mouth.

Rachel tossed her head back in ecstasy as Finn's mouth continued its ministrations on her breasts and she could feel the wetness pooling at her centre. She reached her hands down to tug at the hem of Finn's shirt, and he stopped what he was doing to reach down and swiftly tug his shirt off. Rachel pressed herself against Finn's chest as he wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her to him as he began nipping gently at her neck, his tongue finding that spot behind her ear that drove her crazy.

Finn let out guttural moan at the sensation of the skin to skin contact, his hands caressing the soft skin of her back. He entwined one hand in her hair, gently tugging the back of her head down so he could place feather-light kisses all along the bottom of her jaw while he slid his other hand down and under her skirt to cup her ass, another deep groan escaping his throat when he realized she was wearing a thong.

Rachel mewled softly at the skin to skin contact of Finn's hand on her bare ass and reached down to undo the button on Finn's jeans. She quickly got it undone and pulled down the zipper, sliding her hand into the waistband of Finn's boxer briefs and wrapping it around his shaft. She began stroking him gently and Finn let out a little growl, nipping her ear gently with his teeth.

Finn pulled his hand out from Rachel's hair and slid it slowly down her chest, flicking his thumb over her nipples gently before sliding it down across her belly button and dipping it underneath her skirt to cup her through her panties. She was soaked and he quickly hooked his fingers in the waistband and pulled them aside before running a finger down her slick folds and slowly sliding it inside her heated core.

"Oh God Finn." Rachel moaned at the sensation of Finn's finger stroking her from the inside. She bucked her hips against his hand as he slid another finger between her folds and began pumping them in and out of her at a torturously slow pace, his thumb brushing gently against her sensitive nub which each movement. A burning heat began to stir inside her, starting in her middle and beginning to spread out to the rest of her body, getting hotter with each stroke of Finn's fingers.

Finn sucked gently on the spot behind Rachel's ear, confident there would be a mark there when he was finished. Feeling Rachel tug on his waistband, Finn lifted his hips so that she could pull his jeans down, freeing his erection from the confines of his underwear. He moaned loudly as Rachel's thumb brushed over the tip of his erection as she continued to stroke him with her hands. A slow, burning heat began building inside of him and he couldn't hold off any longer. He needed to feel all of Rachel and right now.

Rachel whined at the loss of contact as Finn gently slipped his fingers out of her but the noise was quickly replaced with a low keening moan as he grabbed her hips and slid himself inside of her with one quick thrust. Rachel threw her head back as Finn filled her up inside, her body quickly adjusting to him as he began thrusting himself deeper and deeper inside her. She raised her hips and slammed them back down, meeting him thrust for thrust as the delicious heat of her arousal began spreading to her entire body, every muscle in her body feeling like it was on fire. She shuddered and a raspy breath escaped her lips as Finn's thumb found her clit and began rubbing back and forth across the sensitive nub. Rachel could feel her orgasm reaching its peak and she screamed out Finn's name as she fell over the edge, her muscles vibrating with the sensations as she rode out the waves of pleasure, her hips bucking wildly as Finn continued thrusting into her.

Finn watched Rachel moving on top of him as she rode out her orgasm, her head thrown back in ecstasy, her face scrunched up in pleasure and her breasts bouncing in his face as the waves of pleasure washed over her. Her walls fluttered wildly around his length, clenching and unclenching him in a vice-like grip and Finn could feel his orgasm coming on strong. The sound of Rachel screaming his name sent him over the edge and Finn let go, bucking his hips hard and grunting as he came, spilling himself inside of her. He could feel the last of Rachel's orgasm petering out as he thrust himself inside Rachel a few more times, every muscle in his body screaming before he finally stilled, his chest heaving in time with Rachel's as the lovers caught their breath. He gently slid himself out of her before pulling her close to him. Rachel leaned forward and snuggled into Finn as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck. She could feel his heart pounding in his chest she knew hers was beating just as fast. A feeling of pure contentment washed over her and she let out a little sigh of happiness. She was so happy in that moment that she wished she could just lay in his arms forever.

"That was amazing." Finn breathed, turning his head to brush his lips over Rachel's before pecking her on the nose.

"Rach, is something wrong?" he said, seeing the strange look that suddenly came across her face. He watched in surprise as a look of horror appeared on Rachel's face and she covered her mouth before quickly jumping off his lap and making a beeline for the bathroom. Finn immediately jumped up and followed her, not even making it to the bathroom door before he could hear retching sounds and then the toilet flushing.

"Don't come in here." Rachel said from her spot on the floor in front of the toilet bowl.

"Don't be ridiculous." Finn said, kneeling on the floor behind Rachel and sweeping her hair back for her while rubbing his hand up and down her back gently.

"Ok I think I'm fine now" Rachel said, starting to get up.

"Are you sure?" Finn said, holding her arm to steady her. He sat her down on the edge of the tub and walked over to the sink to fill a glass with water for her. He walked back over and gave it to her to drink. He sat across from her on the toilet seat, a deep look of concern on his face.

"I can't believe my cooking was so bad it made you sick." He said, chuckling.

"It wasn't your cooking." Rachel said matter-of-factly. "I'm pregnant."

"Very funny Rach." Finn said, laughing nervously.

"It's not a joke Finn. I am pregnant." Rachel looked down, staring at the glass of water in her hands, avoiding Finn's eyes.

"What…what are you talking about?" Finn said, running his hands through his hair. "That's impossible. We JUST had sex. I'm not that stupid Rach."

"Finn this isn't like the Quinn/hot tub debacle from high school. I'm not trying to convince you this baby is yours. It's not."

"What the fuck Rach!" Finn said, raising his voice and jumping up off the toilet, beginning to pace back in forth in front of the sink.

"Calm down Finn. I'll explain."

"Explain? Explain what? That you've been playing me this whole time? We've been back together like what, two weeks and you're telling me you are pregnant with another man's baby. No wonder you wanted to just be friends. You were sleeping with someone else." Finn's face was becoming redder by the minute. He stormed out of the bathroom, heading for the living room and began throwing on his clothes.

"I was inseminated." Rachel yelled, chasing after Finn.

"What the hell does that mean?" he said, pausing what he was doing and sitting down on the couch.

Rachel leaned over and grabbed her top off the floor and threw it on before sitting down on the couch next to Finn.

"You have to understand that I wanted a baby so badly." She said, her lip quivering as tears formed in her eyes. "I wasn't getting any younger and Mr. Right wasn't anywhere in sight so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I saved my money and found a donor and then I had myself artificially inseminated with his sperm and now I'm pregnant. That day we ran into each other I was leaving the Doctor's office after just having had the procedure done."

Finn sat there a moment as the information sunk in, his mind trying to wrap around the strange new development in their relationship.

"This is a lot to take in right now." Finn said, standing up and finishing doing up his jeans before throwing on his sweater. He walked to the door and threw on his sneakers and grabbed his keys.

"Where are you going?" Rachel said, staring at him with wide tear-filled eyes.

"I just..I can't be here right now." Finn said, shaking his head at her.

"This is your apartment." Rachel said, wiping the tears from her eyes and standing up, gathering her things and throwing them together. "I'll leave."

"No you won't. It's late." Finn replied, holding up his hand as if to stop her. "I just need some air. I'll be back in a little while."

Rachel watched in disbelief as he turned and walked out of the apartment, shutting the door behind him. She walked back to the living room, tears falling freely from her eyes and threw herself down on the couch, burying her face in her hands, as she began to sob, the motion shaking her tiny frame.

"I've lost him." She thought.

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><p><strong>Reviews are love<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N:** Thanks again for the love you are showing me for this story. You inspire me to keep writing so thank you. I read every single review and they mean a lot to me. _

_I had this chapter 90% finished for the last couple of days but couldn't figure out how to end it. This story keeps changing in my head as I write and I have no idea how many chapters are left. I didn't plan on putting smut in this chapter but I started writing and it just came out. I am known for my smut so I guess it makes sense. Anyway, enjoy the new chapter. Sorry if its riddled with spelling or grammatical errors. I'm writing this from a hotel room while my husband and son sleep next to me. _

_**Disclaimer:** I own nothing_

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><p>Finn stepped into the elevator and pushed the button for his floor. It had been a couple of hours since Rachel had dropped the bombshell to end all bombshells on him and he had spent that time walking the streets of New York, trying to wrap his head around everything. He loved Rachel. He'd never stopped loving Rachel and he had lost her once. He wasn't going to go through that again or put her through that again. He wanted to be with her, of that he had no doubt. And he'd always dreamt of having kids with Rachel. He'd just always assumed the children would be his biologically. But sometimes life throws things at you that you aren't expecting but you just learn to roll with the punches and adapt. This was one of those times.<p>

He felt horrible for running out on Rachel earlier but he'd been understandably a little freaked out and just needed some air. He hoped Rachel was still in his apartment when he got there. He'd told her to stay put but when had Rachel ever listened to something he'd told her. She was stubborn that one. The elevator doors opened on his floor and he walked down the hall to his apartment, pulling out his keys and unlocking the door before walking through it into a darkened apartment.

"Rachel?" he whispered, kicking off his shoes at the door and walking into the apartment, his eyes adjusting to the darkness as he moved forward. He spotted Rachel's purse on the kitchen table and breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn't left. But where was she? He padded into the living room and immediately saw her. She was curled up fast-asleep on the couch wearing one of his old t-shirts that she must have dug out of his dresser. He marveled at how tiny she looked in his shirt.

Moving quietly he walked over and knelt down in front of her, pushing a strand of hair off her face and behind her ear. He could tell she'd been crying. Her eyelids were red and puffy and tear-streaks were dried on her cheek. His heart sank at the thought that he'd made her cry. Standing up, he reached over and scooped Rachel up in his arms and began carrying her to the bedroom. She stirred a little in her sleep and snuggled into his chest but she didn't wake up. When he reached the bed, Finn laid her gently down on the comforter and carefully slid it out from underneath her before covering her up with it. Rachel stirred again and rolled unto her side, murmured something in her sleep. Finn undressed quickly in the dark before sliding into the bed next to her and lying on his side, pulling Rachel's back against his chest and snuggling into her. His last thought before he fell asleep was how perfect it felt to have Rachel in his arms again.

Rachel opened her eyes slowly, adjusting to the unfamiliar surroundings. As she started to wake up, she realized she was lying in a bed, a heavy arm draped across her waist and a warm body pressed to her back. She could hear light snoring coming from behind her and she realized that Finn had come back. He must have carried her to bed because the last thing she remembered was lying down on the couch.

He'd come back. She knew he would have had to come back eventually since it was his apartment but she wasn't sure what kind of a mood he'd be in when he got back. She hoped the fact that he'd carried her to bed and snuggled up next to her meant that he wasn't as mad at her as she thought. Rachel rolled herself onto her back and looked over at her sleeping companion. He looked so peaceful in his sleep and as she watched his face, a warm feeling washed over her. She was head over heels in love with this man. She had been since she was 15 years old. She could not lose him again.

A small smile formed on Finn's lips as he slowly woke up and realized his arm was draped across Rachel's waist. He opened his eyes and met her gaze, her warm brown eyes staring back at him. He could get use to waking up next to her every morning.

"Good morning." He murmured, leaning over her and placing a soft kiss on her lips.

"You came back." She said, her lower lip quivering as she began to cry softly.

"Aw Rach. Please don't cry baby." Finn said, brushing the tears off her cheeks with the pad of his thumbs. "I'm so sorry I ran out on you last night. You just caught me off guard and I didn't know how to handle it. I should have stayed here and talked to you about everything instead of taking off and leaving you here. Forgive me?"

Rachel nodded her head and sniffled a little. "Of course I forgive you. I can't really blame you for running off can I? I did drop a major bombshell on your head."

"Well I will admit it did throw me for a bit of a loop at first but I'm okay now."

He pushed Rachel's t-shirt up and lovingly ran his hand across her abdomen. "So what are we going to do about this?" he asked.

"You don't have to do anything Finn. I'll understand if you don't want to stay with me. You didn't sign on for this and I won't hold it against you if you just want to walk away. I know it's a lot to take on." Rachel said, tears filling her eyes again.

"I want to stay Rach." Finn said softly, leaning over and kissing her stomach. "I know it's a lot to take on but I want to be with you. I lost you once already and I don't want to lose you again. I love you Rachel. I never stopped and this baby is a part of you so how can I not love it too. I want to do this with you. Will you let me?"

Rachel's heart swelled at Finn's words. "There's nothing I want more than that Finn. I love you too. So so much." She said, running her hands through his hair as she met his gaze.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this sooner." She said, not meeting his eyes. I wanted to tell you Finn, I really did, but I was so scared of losing you."

"I'm not going anywhere." He said, smiling at her as he hovered over her body. He leaned down and brushed his lips across hers, moaning softly when she pulled his head down, deepening the kiss. He slid his hand under her shirt and up her body, relishing the feel of her soft skin under his hands. He rubbed the pad of his thumb across her nipple and it pebbled under his touch as Rachel moaned into his mouth and arched her back. Is Pulling his lips from Rachel's, Finn grabbed the hem of her shirt, pushing it the rest of the way up and over her head and throwing it to the floor before lowering his mouth to her breast and gently sucking on first one and then the other.

Rachel let out a soft moan when Finn's mouth made contact with her breast and she rolled her hips into Finn, a burning heat pooling in her centre.

"Love me." She breathed, sliding her hands into the waistband of her panties and pushing them down her legs as far as she could before kicking them off. She hooked her hands into Finn's boxers and tugged them down too, using her feet to push them the rest of the way down his legs. Finn kicked them onto the floor as well before settling himself between her legs. He ran a finger through her folds, a moan escaping his lips when he realized she was more than ready for him. Stroking himself a few times, Finn settled himself at her entrance and slowly slid himself inside of her as far as he could, her walls sheathing him in their heat as he began thrusting, sliding himself almost all the way out before pushing back into her, picking up speed with each thrust.

Rachel moaned loudly and ran her nails down Finn's back, digging her heels into the backs of his legs, wanting to feel him as deep as possible inside her. She could feel her orgasm building quickly and screaming Finn's name, she fell over the edge, the muscles in her legs shuddering as she came undone. Wave after wave of pleasure washed over her as their bodies moved together as one.

Finn bucked his hips hard against Rachel as she came, her walls fluttering wildly around his length as she writhed in ecstasy underneath him. He grunted and drove himself deep inside of her as his orgasm overtook him and he came hard, spilling himself inside her. Every muscle in his body felt like it was on fire as he came down from his peak and his body stilled. Finn pulled out and threw himself down on the bed next to Rachel, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath while his heart pounded in his chest.

Rachel laid there for a moment and tried to catch her breath. She pulled the blankets up to her chin and rolled on her side, snuggling into Finn as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close.

"I love you." He said, kissing the top of her head.

"I love you too." She said before slipping back into a blissful sleep, her body spent from the exertion of their lovemaking.

"So how did you two meet?" Dr. Prystawski asked, looking back and forth between Rachel and Finn.

"We actually met in high school." Rachel said, smiling over at Finn and grabbing his hand to squeeze it. "We just reconnected again a couple of weeks ago." She added.

"Well that's nice." The doctor said, smiling at them.

"Okay Rachel everything looks good from this end." He said, pulling off his glove and tossing it in the garbage before reaching over to pull the ultrasound machine closer to the side of the examination chair Rachel was sitting on. "Your cervix feels nice and healthy so let's see if we can try and take a look at that baby in there." He reached over and pulled out a long white wand and rolled what looked to be a condom on it before flicking on the monitor on the machine.

"What is that?" Finn exclaimed, his face a mask of horror as he looked at contraption in the doctor's hand. "Are you going to put that in Rachel?"

"Relax. It's perfectly safe. Rachel isn't far enough along yet for us to do the ultrasound through her abdomen so we use the transducer so we can get a clearer picture of the baby."

"Calm down Finn. It's okay." Rachel said, squeezing Finn's hand again.

"Are we ready?" The doctor asked.

"Yes we're ready." Rachel said, looking up at Finn to make sure he'd calmed down. He still looked worried but he smiled at her and pulled her hand up to his mouth and kissed it.

"Okay Rachel, just take a deep breath and relax. This won't hurt." Dr. Prystawski said, turning his attention to the monitor as a grainy black and white image began to form on the screen.

"Is that..is that the baby?" Finn asked as he squinted, trying to make out what was on the screen. It just looked like a bunch of static to him.

"Okay do you see that black spot right there?" The doctor asked, pointing it out on the screen. Rachel and Finn both nodded before he continued.

"Well that is the gestational sac and that little white speck right there," he said, gesturing to another spot on the screen, "that little white speck is your baby." He smiled broadly at them before turning a couple of dials on the machine. "And it looks like your baby is measuring in at 6 weeks and 4 days." "Uh wait a minute." He said, turning a few more dials and staring intently at the screen for a second.

"What is it? Is something wrong with the baby?" Rachel said, her voice rising in panic.

Dr. Prystawski turned to them and smiled widely. "Nothing is wrong with your baby. Or I should say nothing is wrong with your babies."

Finn's eyes grew wide as what the doctor was saying to them registered. "Are you saying she's having twins?" He said, shooting a glance at Rachel whose face had gone completely white as she too stared at the doctor with wide eyes.

"It's not uncommon to see twins in IUF cases. We stimulate the ovaries to produce more than one egg in order to make sure our chances are good that the sperm we injected into her uterus will find an egg to fertilize and sometimes more than one egg gets fertilized. Congratulations. This is very good news."

"Now let's see if we can hear their heartbeats." he said, turning a few more dials on the machine before a rhythmic swish swish swish sound filled the room.

"It sounds so fast." Finn said. "Is that normal?"

"Perfectly. Let's see…they're measuring around 117 beats per minutes. That is completely normal for this stage of the pregnancy."

Finn stole a glance at Rachel. She was staring intently at the ultrasound screen, a huge smile on her face and he watched as a few tears slipped down her cheeks. "Isn't it amazing Finn?" She asked, turning to him.

"Yup." He said, swallowing nervously, his mind racing as he turned the information over and over in his brain. Twins. Two babies. TWO BABIES.

"Finn? Are you okay?" Rachel said, looking concerned at the grayish pallor of her boyfriend's skin.

"Great. I'm great." Finn said, forcing a smile on his face. "Why wouldn't I be great?" He said, chuckling nervously.

"Okay…well I'm going to give you two a minute. I'll go print off some images for you to take home with you and I'll be right back." Dr. Prystawski got up and washed his hands in the sink before stepping quietly out of the room.

"Now's your chance Finn." Rachel said her face crestfallen as she spoke. "You can leave now and I won't hold it against you. You signed on for one baby, not two. I'll understand if you want to go."

"I already told you I'm not going anywhere. It's just that I only just got used to the idea of one baby and now there are two. I just need a minute to wrap my head around it okay babe?" Finn said, reaching out to wipe the fresh tears off Rachel's cheek as they fell. "Don't cry Rach, we're in this together you and me. Tethered remember?" He grabbed her chin and tilted it up, giving her a soft kiss on the lips.

"Are you sure?" she asked quietly, her brown eyes filled with hope as she gazed up at him.

"100%." He said, grinning at her as the doctor came back into the room.

"Everything good?" Dr. Prystawski asked, looking between the couple.

"Everything's great!" Rachel said, smiling at him as Finn nodded in agreement.

"Perfect! Okay so here are a couple of pictures of your babies for you to take home as well as a few pamphlets on being pregnant with twins. Make sure you make your next appointment with the receptionist before you leave." He said, walking back out the door and shutting it behind him.

Rachel began to get dressed, chattering excitedly about the babies to Finn as he just smiled and nodded at everything she said, unable to get a word in edgewise.

"Oh I can't wait to tell Dad!" she exclaimed, as they left the doctor's office and stepped out onto the sidewalk.

"Oh are you going to call him?" Finn asked, his mind still on the fact that in the span of a few weeks he'd gone from being single with no children to in a relationship and about to become the father to two babies.

"I think I'll just wait until tonight when we see him for dinner." Rachel replied, grabbing Finn's hand as they walked down the street.

Finn stopped dead in his tracks and made a face.

"We're having dinner with your Dad?" he asked in a slightly panicky voice.

"Oh didn't I tell you that already? Maybe I didn't. It probably just slipped my mind, pregnancy brain and all." Rachel stammered. "He just got back from a conference in Chicago and we always go out for dinner when he comes home from a long trip. When I told him that you and I were back together he insisted that you come as well."

"Of course he did. He probably wants to kill me." Finn sputtered.

"Don't be ridiculous Finn. Dad likes you. He seemed really excited when I told him you were back. He just wants to have dinner with his daughter and the man she loves. There is no harm in that. You're just overreacting."

"Your Dad never liked me Rach. I could see it in his eyes. He tolerated me at best. I think he always saw me as the scoundrel that deflowered his precious daughter."

"Well you are the scoundrel that deflowered his precious daughter." Rachel said with a giggle, rising up on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on Finn's lips. "Don't be such a baby. It will be fine. I'll protect you from my big bad Dad."

"Fine but I hope we get to the restaurant before he does tonight." Finn said as they began walking again down the sidewalk.

"Why is that?" Rachel questioned, intertwining her fingers with Finn's as they walked.

"So I can remove all the knives and other possible instruments of death from the table before he gets there." Finn deadpanned.

Rachel tossed her head back and laughed heartily. "Well this is going to be an interesting evening."

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><p><strong>Reviews are love<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N:** Sorry for the delay in updating this story but I've been super busy with life right now. I just moved my entire family across the country and we've been staying at my parents place with limited internet access and I've been busy looking for a place to live and chasing after a two year old so I've only been able to write a couple of paragraphs a day. Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter. I hope you haven't lost interest in the story after all this time. _

_**Disclaimer:** I own nothing_

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><p>"Stop messing with your tie!" Rachel scolded Finn as they sat in the restaurant waiting for her father to arrive.<p>

"I can't help it Rach. I'm nervous." Finn muttered, deciding to play with the cutlery on the table instead.

Rachel gave Finn a look that meant business before spotting her father heading towards their table.

"He's here." She said, squeezing Finn's hand before getting up from her seat.

Hey Dad!" Rachel said brightly when her father reached the table.

"Hello dear." Leroy said, pulling his daughter in for a hug while giving Finn a look over Rachel's shoulder.

"Finn." He said, releasing Rachel and holding out his hand for Finn to shake.

"Hello sir." Finn said, feeling like he was 16 years old again as Rachel's Dad squeezed his hand a little too hard as he shook it.

"So how was your ultrasound today?" Leroy said, pulling the chair out for Rachel and waiting for her to sit down before he took the seat next to her. Finn sat down last, fiddling with his tie again before Rachel gave him a gentle kick under the table.

"It was amazing!" Rachel said, her eyes widening with excitement. "And you're never going to believe this but…I'm having twins!"

"Twins!" Leroy boomed, reaching over to hug Rachel again across the table. "Imagine that!"

"We can hardly believe it ourselves." Finn spoke up, taking a sip of his water.

"A baby is one thing but two babies is something else entirely. Are you sure you're ready to take all that on Finn. You broke Rachel's heart once; I hope you aren't planning on doing it again." Leroy said, fixing Finn with a stern look.

"You have nothing to worry about there Mr. Berry." Finn said, fixing Rachel's father with a look of his own. "I don't make the same mistakes twice. I let your daughter go once and I regretted it every day and now that I have her back I'm never letting her go."

Rachel beamed up at Finn as he placed his hand over hers on the table, giving it a little squeeze.

"Well I'm happy to hear that Finn but I'm sure when you thought about getting back together with Rachel you didn't think there would be babies involved from the outset." Leroy replied, looking to Finn for an answer.

"Well sir you are right about that but I love your daughter and these babies are a part of her so I love them too. I always wanted to have children with Rachel; I just didn't realize it would be immediately. Even so, I'm willing to be there with her for every step of this journey because I'm in this for the long haul. I want you to know I'm not going anywhere. You have nothing to worry about. Rachel and these babies will be taken care of." Finn said, feeling pretty confident.

"I can't tell you how good it makes me feel to hear you say that, Finn. I'm happy to know that my baby girl and her babies will be taken care of. It's a load off my shoulders. I don't know if Rachel told you this, but I wasn't too keen on this idea of hers when she first brought it up. I was worried about how she would make out raising a baby all by herself. Children are a lot of work and they are very expensive. There are doctor's visits and daycare costs. Preschools and private schools and then there's all the extracurriculars and sports and then the big whammy, the college tuition. And in your case everything is going to be multiplied by two." Leroy said.

"Okay Dad, I think you've scared Finn enough." Rachel said, giving her Dad a look that clearly meant it was time for him to stop talking. "Let's order and then I want to hear all about your trip." Rachel picked up her menu and glanced at it as her father did the same, neither one of them noticing the anxious look that flashed briefly across Finn's face before he composed himself and picked up his menu as well.

"Take care of my girl Finn." Leroy said, giving his daughter a peck on the cheek and shaking Finn's hand before climbing into his taxi.

"I can take care of myself Dad." Rachel said, rolling her eyes at her father, shutting the cab door behind him. "No worries."

"Okay good. I'll call you tomorrow honey." He said as his taxi began to pull away from the curb. He waved out the window as the cab drove off into the night.

Rachel turned to Finn who was standing next to her, seemingly lost in thought. His eyes almost glazed over and a look of deep concern on his face.

"Finn? Are you okay?" Rachel asked, a bit worried as she took in the look on Finn's face.

Finn snapped out of his reverie at the sound of Rachel's voice. Giving his head a little shake, he looked down at his girlfriend and gave her a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"I'm fine babe." He said, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. He quickly hailed a cab for them and opened the door for Rachel, allowing her to slide in before he got in behind her. He gave the driver Rachel's address and the cab took off.

"You're not mad because of all the pestering my Dad gave you tonight are you?" Rachel asked, her voice quiet.

"No it's fine Rach. I understood where he was coming from and he had every right to question my intentions after I broke your heart the first time. Actually I'm surprised he wasn't harder on me. Your father is a good guy. I really like him." Finn said in reply.

Rachel pursed her lips and looked out the window of the cab. She could tell Finn wasn't fine but she could also tell he didn't want to talk about it any further. Rather than pester him about it and possibly cause a fight, Rachel decided that she would just let it go for now.

"I'm going to go jump in the shower." Rachel said, kicking off her heels as Finn shut her apartment door behind them. "I'll be right back."

"You should wait till after." Finn said with a grin, grabbing Rachel's wrist and pulling her to him.

"After what?" Rachel said, reaching up on her tiptoes to peck Finn on the lips.

"After I'm done with you." Finn said, crushing Rachel against him as he deepened the kiss, his tongue darting out and quickly gaining entrance to her mouth. With one swift moment he lifted her up and gently placed her on the counter, his lips never leaving hers.

Rachel let out a little squeak as the ground fell away below her. She felt her bottom make contact with the countertop and she moaned, threading her hands through Finn's hair as he used his knee to push her legs apart so he could stand in between them, tearing his lips from her mouth to trail hot open-mouth kisses all along her jaw line.

Finn ground his hips into Rachel and let out a growl when she tugged on his hair in response. Reaching around her back, he quickly undid the zipper on her dress and pushed the material down off her shoulders, letting it pool at her waist. He began peppering soft kisses along her collarbone and down her chest before gently pulling a nipple into his mouth and sucking on it till it pebbled, kneading Rachel's other breast with his palm. Rachel mewled softly and threw her head back, arching her body forward as Finn turned his attention to her other breast, his tongue hot and wet as he slowly pulled the nipple into his mouth and rolled it around on his tongue till it hardened.

Rachel mewled with pleasure as Finn lavished attention on her breasts. Feeling his hands at her waist, she lifted her hips to allow Finn to slide her dress the rest of the way off and onto the floor. Reaching her hands down, Rachel quickly undid the button on Finn's dress pants and used her feet to push them down his legs. She slid her hand inside the waistband of his boxer briefs, freeing his erection from its cotton restraint. She wrapped her tiny fist around his length and squeezed it gently, eliciting a deep growl from Finn.

Finn dragged his mouth up Rachel's chest and neck and crushed his lips down onto hers as she continued to stroke and squeeze him, the feel of her soft hands on his cock causing a delicious heat to begin burning somewhere deep in his abdomen, it's fiery heat slowly spreading out to the rest of his body with each touch of her fingers.

"Finn I need you." Rachel practically purred, pushing her hips forward against Finn's to emphasize her point.

Finn made eye contact with Rachel and slowly slid his hands up the inside of her thighs till he reached her centre. Pushing aside the flimsy lace of her panties, he slid a finger through her slick folds, marveling at how wet she was. Grabbing her ass with his other hand he pulled her to the edge of the counter and with one quick motion, thrust himself inside Rachel as deep as he could go, eliciting a high-pitched shriek of pleasure from her. They quickly found their rhythm as Rachel rocked her hips into Finn, meeting him thrust for thrust and he picked up his pace as he could feel his orgasm building up quickly inside of him. Rachel tossed her head back and mewled wildly as Finn pounded into her, her long nails digging into his shoulder with every thrust of their hips. Realizing he was dangerously close to toppling over the edge, Finn reached down and slid his fingers inside Rachel's panties and began rubbing the pad of his thumb across Rachel's clit.

A guttural groan escaped Rachel's lips as Finn's fingers found her most sensitive nub and she squeezed her eyes shut against the onslaught of sensations. She dug her heels into the backs of Finn's thighs, needing to feel him as deep inside of her as possible as a delicious burning heat began to spread out from the centre of Rachel's body. She let out a loud keening moan as stars exploded behind her eyes, her orgasm shaking her body to the core as every muscle in her body shuddered and shook from the waves of pleasure that washed over her repeatedly.

The muscles in Finn's back rippled as he continued to thrust into Rachel as her slick walls fluttered wildly around his length. He squeezed his eyes shut as Rachel clamped and unclamped around him, bringing him to the brink of his orgasm and with a grunt, he thrust himself hard inside her a couple of times as he came, spilling himself inside her as the nerves in his body twitched. Finn braced himself against the counter as his knees momentarily buckled and he collapsed onto Rachel, his body spent from the physical exertion. Their bodies heaved together as they tried to catch their breath, their hearts beating wildly in unison as they came down from their orgasms.

"I love you." Finn said, placing a soft kiss on the tip of Rachel's nose.

"I love you too." Rachel said, wrapping her arms around Finn's neck and pulling his head down to meet hers as she brushed her lips across his in a gentle, loving kiss.

Rachel stretched and rolled onto her side as she slowly awoke. She reached her arm out across the bed to pull Finn closer to her but was met with empty air. She opened her eyes to find herself alone in bed and quickly sat up, alarmed at Finn's absence. Slipping out of bed and throwing on her robe, she tiptoed out the bedroom and down the hall, noticing a light coming from the kitchen as the faint smell of burnt toast filled her nostrils. Turning the corner she immediately noticed Finn hurriedly moving around the kitchen, mumbling to himself, a pile of grilled cheese sandwiches a mile high resting on a plate on top of the counter. His hair was sticking up all over the place as he practically bounced off the walls of the kitchen wearing nothing but his old McKinley high t-shirt and a pair of plaid boxers.

"Finn, it's 3 o'clock in the morning. What are you doing?" Rachel asked him, a bewildered look on her face as she tried to process the scene in front of her, her brain still groggy from sleep.

"Oh hey babe." Finn said, a manic look on his face as he noticed Rachel standing there. "I couldn't sleep so I decided to make myself a grilled cheese sandwich."

"Sweetie it looks like you cooked 20 grilled cheese sandwiches." Rachel said gently. "Are you okay?"

"Me? I'm fine. Great! Awesome in fact! Hey, did you know that it costs an average of like $14,000 a year for daycare in New York? And preschool is like, $30,000 a year, and that's not even for the best schools and you know we are going to want the best for our kids. And don't even get me started on how much university costs per year. And then to top it off we have to multiply these costs by two. Because that's what twins are. Two babies! It's two babies Rach! Two!" Finn gestured wildly with the spatula as the word vomit spewed forth from his mouth at a frenzied pace.

"Oh Finny." Rachel said soothingly, walking over to the counter and turning off the sandwich maker before gently taking the spatula from Finn's hand and putting it in the sink.

"Let's get you to bed, okay?" she said quietly, beginning to lead Finn back to the bedroom.

"Okay." Finn said rather dopily, shuffling along as Rachel led him back down the hall.

"You know, I'm not even a full-fledged architect yet." Finn whispered to Rachel as she led him to the bed and pulled back the covers for him and then pulled them back over him once he was in bed. She leaned over and kissed Finn on the forehead, pulling the blankets up to his chin like a little boy before walking around to her side of the bed and tossing her robe on the chair and crawling underneath the covers herself.

"How about we talk about this in the morning okay?" she said, turning to snuggle up against Finn's side.

"Okay." Finn replied groggily as he drifted off to sleep.

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><p><strong>Reviews are love :)<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** _So so sorry it took me forever to update this story but I have good reason. I'm pregnant, which means I'm busy throwing up a lot. And when I'm not throwing up I'm just to tired to do anything. And chasing after a toddler while sick and tired also doesn't help much. So I haven't had much time to update but I'm starting to feel better so I hope to have the next chapter up quicker this time. I have the story all mapped out, just gotta get the words down on the page. I hope people are still reading this story because I am so in love with it. Anyway, this chapter is kinda boring but I'm just trying to get us forward in the story to the good stuff. Thank you to everyone who reads, reviews, alerts, etc. It really means a lot to me!_

**Disclaimer: ** I own nothing but spelling errors and crappy grammer

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><p>Finn steered the rental SUV into the driveway and shut off the engine. Taking off his seatbelt, he turned to face the passenger seat. Reaching over, he laid his hand over Rachel's, giving it a little squeeze.<p>

"Still nervous?" he asked, meeting her eyes.

"Yes." Rachel replied, pulling down the visor and checking her hair in the mirror for the twentieth time since they'd left the Lima airport.

"Rach you have nothing to be nervous about. It's not like you've never met my family before. You know them. They know you. What's the big deal?"

"I haven't seen them in years Finn." Rachel said nervously. "Your Mom is probably not very impressed with me coming back into your life and dropping a baby, make that two babies, in your lap. I can't say I blame her though."

Rachel looked down at her hands and then back up at Finn, tears pooling in her eyes.

"Mom loves you Rachel. Kurt and Blaine and Burt do too. Mom was really excited when I told her about the babies and couldn't wait for us to come for Thanksgiving so she could see us. Both of us. You have nothing to be nervous about okay babe?"

Finn brushed a tear away from Rachel's cheek with his thumb and leaned in to press a gentle kiss to her lips. "You ready?" he said, looking into her eyes.

"Let's do this." Rachel said, taking a deep breath as if to brace herself before opening her door and stepping outside the car.

"So have you guys thought about where you are going to live?" Carole asked.

Finn and Rachel looked at each other before Rachel spoke. "We haven't actually talked about that yet…" she said, her voice trailing off as she stole another glance at Finn.

"It's been a long day Mom." Finn said, jumping in. "I think Rachel and I are going to head to bed. That drive takes a lot out of you. Why don't we do a bit more catching up tomorrow after we've had a chance to get some sleep?"

"Alright dear. I set you guys up in the spare room upstairs that way Kurt and Blaine can have the basement when they arrive tomorrow. Burt already brought your bags up earlier. I hope that's okay for you two. We replaced Finn's twin bed with a Queen a few years back so at least you'll have lots of room."

"Thanks Mom." Finn said, getting to his feet and reaching out his hand to pull Rachel off the couch.

"See you in the morning." Rachel said quietly.

"Oh I'm so glad you're here." Carole exclaimed, reaching out and pulling Rachel into another hug.

"Me too." Rachel said smiling.

"Okay hon. I think you've hugged Rachel enough for one night." Burt chuckled, putting a hand on his wife's shoulder as he came up to stand behind her.

"Goodnight kids." He said.

Rachel smiled shyly at Burt and Carole and followed Finn up the stairs.

"See I told you that you had nothing to worry about." Finn whispered to Rachel in the dark as they lay in bed.

"Ok fine, you were right. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"What was that?" Finn teased. "Did you just say I was right?"

"Oh shut up." Rachel said with a laugh, elbowing Finn in the side before falling quiet.

"What are you thinking about?" Finn said, after a beat.

"I was just thinking about what your Mom asked us." Rachel said quietly.

"About what?"

"About where we're going to live. Have you thought about that at all?" Rachel asked, rolling onto her side and propping herself up on her elbow to look at Finn.

Finn rolled onto his side, facing Rachel and propped himself up as well.

"I haven't really thought about it, but I guess we should probably figure that out. Your apartment is a two-bedroom but your spare room is pretty tiny. I'm not even sure two cribs would fit in there. My apartment is a lot bigger. Both bedrooms are the same size and they both have their own bathrooms. It would make the most sense for us to live at my place. And technically it's closer to your work then the apartment you're in right now."

"My spare bedroom is pretty tiny," Rachel mused, "and my lease is up next month so it wouldn't be a problem to move out. It does make the most sense to live at your place I guess."

"So it's settled then." Finn said with a grin.

"Are you asking me to move in with you Finn?" Rachel asked with mock surprise, a playful smirk on her face.

"I guess I am." Finn said with a grin, reaching out to pull Rachel closer. He brushed his lips across hers gently. "So what do you say? Wanna move in with me?"

"I'd love to." She replied, a huge smile breaking out on her face. She wound her arms around Finn's neck, pulling his face back down to hers for another kiss.

Finn slid his hand down Rachel's body, slipping his hand underneath her t-shirt to caress her skin. His hand began to slowly migrate upwards, his mouth finding the spot behind Rachel's ear that drove her crazy.

"Oh no you don't Mr. Hudson." Rachel said, grabbing Finn's wrist before he could move his hand any further.

"What?" Finn said, in between sucking and nipping on Rachel's neck.

"We are not having sex in your parent's house," Rachel whispered indignantly, "No matter how good your lips feel on my neck right now."

"Oh come on Rach. We're not kids anymore. We're adults. I'm sure Mom and Burt know we're sleeping together." Finn pulled his arm out of Rachel's grip and continued his upward trek, his palm sliding over her breast and gently kneading it.

"No way Finn! It's not happening." Rachel said, pushing Finn's arm away and rolling herself away from him.

"Ugh!" Finn groaned, flopping onto his back in defeat.

"C'mon baby. Don't be mad." Rachel said, rolling back onto her side and giving Finn an innocent look. "Besides, I promise you I will make it up to you as soon as we get back to New York."

"You better!" he joked, pulling Rachel close to him once again, tucking her head underneath his chin and closing his eyes. "I love you Rach." He murmured, already starting to fall asleep.

"I love you too." Rachel said sleepily, sighing contentedly as she settled into Finn's embrace.

"Good morning!" Carole said cheerily as Rachel came into the kitchen. "Did you sleep well?"

"As well as can be expected when you have to get up to pee every couple of hours." Rachel said with a chuckle.

"Ah yes, I remember it well." Carole grinned, turning her attention back to the counter where she was chopping vegetables.

"Is there anything I can help with?" Rachel asked, politely.

"There sure is, but why don't you get yourself and those babies some breakfast first. There's cereal in that cupboard right there or if you'd like I can make you some pancakes. And where is that son of mine? He's usually in here emptying out my fridge by now."

"He left with Burt to go pick Kurt and Blaine up from the airport. He said he'd get breakfast on the way. And cereal is fine." Rachel replied, already pouring herself a bowl of cheerios.

"The soy milk is on the door of the fridge hon." Carole said as she continued to chop carrots.

"Thank you again for inviting me here for Thanksgiving Carole. It really means a lot to me that you went out of your way to get all this vegan stuff for me when I'm the only one who eats it."

"It's no problem dear. It was kinda nice buying all the vegan stuff again. Reminded me of when you two were in high school." Carole replied with a smile.

"I know that you probably think I'm crazy for what I'm doing and now I've drug your son into it." Rachel said quickly, ducking her head and staring at her bowl of cereal. "I wouldn't blame you if you were angry with me."

"Sweetheart what makes you think I am angry with you?" Carole said, putting her knife down and coming over to put an arm around Rachel.

"I just..I assumed that you'd be mad at me for dragging Finn into all this. I mean, it would be different if we were together and then got pregnant but I was pregnant before Finn and I got together and he never asked for this. I've burdened him with this instant family and I just figured that you and Burt would be angry that I'd done that to him." Rachel drew in a shuddery breath as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Oh honey don't cry." Carole said, pulling Rachel into a hug. "I am not mad at you. I'm happy for you. Babies are a blessing and yes this is a little unorthodox way to go about becoming grandparents for Burt and I but we couldn't be happier for you and Finn. Finn loves you; he's never stopped loving you. Mother's know these things. I haven't seen Finn this happy since high school and that's because of you and these babies. Finn is a grown man and he makes his own decisions and he's decided that he wants to be with you and those babies. He loves them as if they were his own and Burt and I will love them the same. So no more tears okay."

"Thank you Carole." Rachel said, wiping the last of her tears away. "I guess the hormones are just getting to me. I cry at the drop of a hat."

"Just you wait my dear, it'll get worse." Carole chuckled, returning to the counter and tossing the chopped carrots into a pot on the stove.

"I can't wait." Rachel said, sarcastically as she finished spooning her cereal into her mouth.

"WHERE IS SHE? WHERE'S THE LITTLE DIVA?"

Rachel turned around from her spot at the counter where she was helping Carole peel potatoes.

"OH MY GAGA! YOU HAVEN'T CHANGED A BIT!" Kurt squealed, rushing across the kitchen to pull Rachel into a crushing hug.

"H..Hi Kurt." Rachel squeaked, trying to catch her breath as Kurt released her from his death grip.

"Gentle with my girl bro." Finn chuckled, "she's pregnant remember?"

"Yes, yes I remember. You only reminded me like 15 times on our way back from the airport." Kurt replied, giving Carole a hug.

"Just ignore him." Blaine said, coming over to give Rachel a hug as well. "He had a rough flight."

"Turbulence?" Carole asked, giving Blaine a hug.

"No, Kurt just decided to pick a fight with the lady sitting across the aisle from us." Blaine said, rolling his eyes.

"Well it's not my fault she was an idiot. She actually had the audacity to ask me if my carry-on was Louis Vuitton when it's so obvious that it's a Ferragamo."

"How dare she! They should have had her booted off the flight immediately!" Carole said with a chuckle, garnering a laugh from everyone in the room but Kurt.

"Mock me all you want but some people just have no fashion sense. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go freshen up. I smell like an airplane." Kurt said with a huff, before retreating from the kitchen, Blaine following closely behind.

"I'm going to go watch the football game in the living room with Blaine and Burt and leave you ladies to the cooking." Finn said with a grin, grabbing a handful of raw carrots off the counter and tossing them in his mouth, his mother narrowly missing his knuckles with the back of her knife.

"Finn those are for supper!"

Finn gave his mother another grin and planted a kiss on Rachel's forehead before grabbing a few beers for Burt, Blaine and himself out of the fridge and slipping out of the room.

"He never changes." Carole chuckled, smiling at Rachel before the two women reconvened their preparations for Thanksgiving dinner.

"Did you have a good time today babe?" Finn whispered to Rachel in the dark as they once again lay down for the night in his old bedroom.

"I had a great time today. Your Mom and I had a good talk while you were out picking up Kurt and Blaine. It was nice."

"What did you talk about?" Finn asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

"We just..cleared the air about a couple of things. I just wanted to make sure she wasn't upset with me for..you know, dragging you into this with me." Rachel looked down at her hands nervously.

"Babe I told you Mom wasn't upset with you."

"I know but I just wanted to hear it from her myself, and to let her know how I felt. She was so great about it. I really love your Mom."

"That's good, because she really loves you. You're like the daughter she never had." Finn smiled at the thought and grabbed Rachel's hand under the blanket, intertwining their fingers and giving her hand a slight squeeze.

"So I have something to tell you but don't get mad okay." Rachel said quickly, stealing a glance at Finn.

"What is it?"

"Well…while you and Burt were washing the dishes from dinner I may or may not have agreed….to let Kurt design and decorate a nursery for the babies." Rachel said in one breath, the last part of her sentence coming out so fast it sounded like one word.

"You have no idea what you just got yourself into." Finn said with a laugh.

"So you're not mad. I mean I went ahead and okayed him but its your apartment so you can totally say no but he cornered me in the hallway and didn't really give me a chance to say no. And I really could use the help."

"Of course I'm not mad babe. It's our apartment now remember. You're moving in with me. What's mine is yours so no worries."

"Thanks!" Rachel said happily, rolling over to give Finn a sweet kiss. "What time are we leaving tomorrow by the way?" She asked sleepily, snuggling deeper into Finn's embrace.

"Around 9am, that way we can drop Kurt and Blaine off at the airport on our way out of town and save Mom and Burt the trip."

"It's too bad we couldn't have visited for longer. Two days driving and we really only got to spend one day with your family and Kurt and Blaine flew in for one day. It's too bad that everyone's so scattered." Rachel yawned, closing her eyes as Finn played with her hair, putting her to sleep.

"Well Mom and Burt are already talking about coming out to visit for Christmas and then again when the babies are born and you know Kurt isn't going to want to design this nursery solely over the phone. I'm sure him and Blaine will be coming to visit more often than usual now."

"Well that will be nice." Rachel said quietly, already half asleep. "Night."

"Night babe. Love you."

"Love you too."

"So you had a good weekend?" Finn asked Rachel, taking his eyes off the road for a second to glance over at her.

"I had a great time. I wish we could have stayed longer."

"And you were so worried." Finn said with a chuckle, putting on his signal and taking the exit ramp off the freeway.

"Where are we going?" Rachel asked, noticing what exit they were getting off at.

"We're going home." Finn said, like Rachel had just lost her mind.

"Well it's quicker to take the other exit to my apartment. We'll have to drive through downtown this way, but whatever, I'll let you drive." Rachel said, glancing out the window at the lights of the city.

"We're not going to your apartment though. We're going to OUR apartment. We're going home." Finn said, a big grin on his face.

"What about all my stuff?" Rachel said, a huge smile breaking out on her face as she realized what Finn was trying to say.

"We'll get it later. I rented a half-ton for next weekend and we'll pick up your stuff then. Your Dad and Tina said they would help us move everything. You and I can go over to your place in the evenings this week and pack everything up."

"How do you have all this stuff worked out already? We just decided yesterday I'd be moving in with you." Rachel said, flabbergasted.

"You decided it yesterday." Finn said with a grin, "I decided it a week ago. I already talked to your Dad and Tina earlier in the week and I booked the truck at the same time I booked this vehicle. I got it under control babe."

Rachel just stared at Finn in shock. "Well what if I had of said no?"

Finn looked at Rachel with a shit-eating grin on his face and chuckled. "I know you better than that."

Rachel continued to stare at Finn in disbelief. This man would never cease to amaze her. Finn pulled the SUV into the garage of his apartment complex and turned off the engine. Jumping out of the vehicle, he came around to Rachel's side and opened her door.

"Let's go inside." He said, smiling at her. "It's really cold out tonight. I'll come out and get the bags in a little bit."

"Ok" Rachel said, taking Finn's outstretched hand as he helped her step down from the large vehicle. She intertwined their fingers as they made their way towards the elevators. As they stepped inside the elevator and began the ascent to Finn's floor, Rachel kept stealing glances at Finn when she knew he wasn't looking. She was so deliriously happy that her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. She had everything she wanted and she couldn't be happier about it. As the elevator doors opened and Finn and Rachel began walking down the hall to his door, she felt him squeeze her hand a little and she hoped he was as happy as she was in that moment.

"Here we are. Home sweet home." Finn said rather dramatically as they reached his door.

Rachel giggled as Finn dug out his keys and unlocked the door, swinging it open wide. Rachel began to step forward but she let out a small shriek as she felt the ground disappear below her as Finn bent down and swiftly swung her into his arms, bridal-style.

"What are you doing?" Rachel said with a laugh, holding onto Finn's neck tightly as he held her.

"I'm carrying you over the threshold." Finn said with a cheesy grin before stepping inside the apartment and kicking the door shut.

"You're insane, you know that?" Rachel giggled as Finn gently put her down on the ground.

"Ya but you still love me." Finn said, giving her a wink as he pulled off his jacket and hung it up in the closet by the door, holding his hand out for Rachel to give him hers.

"Lucky for you." Rachel said as she padded down the hall towards the bedroom. She unzipped her dress and let it drop to the floor before glancing back at Finn with a devilish grin on her face. "You coming to collect on that promise I made you?" she asked, with a laugh.

"Don't have to ask me twice!" Finn said, practically sprinting down the hall and capturing Rachel in his arms, the sound of her giggles filling the air as he pulled her into the bedroom and shut the door behind them.

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><p><strong>Reviews are love<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: ** _I am so so sorry it took me this long to update this story but this pregnancy is still kicking my ass and making me sick and tired on a daily basis. Then I came down with the flu and then my husband and I decided to buy a house and move into it all within 3 weeks so to say things have been hectic here is an understatement. I promise to update the next chapter much sooner now that everything is settling down again. I hope there are still some people out there willing to read the story. Thank you to everyone who has been reading, reviewing, adding the story to their alerts and favourites, etc. You are the reason I keep writing. I hope the chapter doesn't suck. It jumps ahead a little bit and just a heads up, the angst monster rears its ugly head in this chapter. Please don't hate me :) Enjoy. _

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><p>"Rach, come on. We're going to be late. What is taking you so long?" Finn yelled down the hall. Hearing no reply from Rachel, he headed down the hall to their bedroom and peeked his head in the room, his eyes growing wide as he took in the chaos. The room had been messy to begin with since Rachel had only moved her stuff in a week before Christmas and they still hadn't figured out where to put all of it but now it was even worse with clothes and shoes strewn from one end of the room to the other.<p>

"Rach?" Finn questioned, not seeing his girlfriend amongst the mess. Just then he noticed a sniffling noise coming from the ensuite. He walked over to the bathroom to find her sitting on the edge of the bathtub in her underwear and bra. He could tell she'd been crying.

"Hey. What's wrong." He said softly, his voice laced with concern as he walked over to crouch down in front of her so he was at her eye level.

"I have nothing to wear." Rachel sniffled, "I'm too fat and none of my clothes fit."

"You are not fat Rach. You're pregnant. There's a big difference." Finn said gently, putting a finger underneath Rachel's chin and pulling her head up so he could look in her eyes.

"Why couldn't your office have had their Christmas party in December like everyone else? I wasn't this huge last month." Rachel questioned, gesturing to her growing belly as she spoke.

"Babe you are far from huge." Finn said with a grin, running a hand across her abdomen as he spoke. "Besides, you have two babies in there, not one. You can't expect to still look like you're not pregnant. You're already almost halfway done with this pregnancy."

"I just want to make a good impression on the people you work with." Rachel said quietly, getting up from the edge of the bathtub.

"And you will. How about you wear that navy blue dress that you bought with Mom and Kurt when you guys went shopping Christmas Eve?" Finn asked, wiping the last of Rachel's tears off her face with the pads of his thumbs before leaning over to give her a quick peck on the lips.

"It's not very fancy though." Rachel mused, walking over to the bed and digging through the pile of clothes before pulling out the aforementioned dress and holding it up to her body, turning to Finn for approval. "Do you think it looks okay?" she questioned him.

"I think you'd look beautiful in a paper bag Rach. The dress is fine. It's not a formal ball with royalty, its just dinner and dancing with the people I work with."

Rachel unzipped the back of the dress, pulling it over her body before walking over to Finn to get him to zip up the back. She lifted her hair up out of the way, allowing Finn to place a quick kiss on the back of her neck as he finished zipping her up.

"How do I look?" she said, turning around so Finn could get a good look at her.

"You look amazing babe." Finn said with a smile. "Now let's go before all the food is gone."

Rachel chuckled. Some things never change and that included Finn's love affair with food.

"One more thing." Rachel said, heading towards the bathroom.

"What now?" Finn said, a little impatient.

"I have to pee first."

"Finn, come on. We're going to be late. What is taking you so long?" Rachel yelled down the hall. Hearing no reply from him, she headed down the hall to their bedroom and poked her head into the room.

"Finn?" she questioned, not seeing him in the room.

"I'm in here babe." He said, from the walk-in closet.

Rachel walked over to the closet to find Finn standing in the room in nothing but his boxer briefs and a white t-shirt. He ran a hand through his hair as he stared at the clothes in front of him.

"Why aren't you dressed?" Rachel said, exasperated. "Our appointment's in less than an hour."

"I don't know what to wear." Finn said, a sheepish look on his face as he turned to face Rachel.

"Just throw on something. It's just an ultrasound appointment. You don't need to look fancy." Rachel said, walking over to the clothes and pulling a dark blue Henley off the hanger and tossing it at Finn.

"But we're finding out what the babies are today Rach!" Finn exclaimed, pulling the top over his head as he spoke. "It's a big deal. I should dress up."

Rachel giggled and walked over to Finn. Standing on her tiptoes she leaned up to give him a kiss on the lips. "Don't worry Finn, the babies won't see what you are wearing. C'mon let's go." Rachel grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the bedroom to the door.

"Stop pacing Finn. You're making me nervous."

"I can't help it." Finn said, as he continued to pace back and forth across the examination room. "I'm just worried they are going to tell us that there is a third baby in there or something."

"Don't be silly." Rachel said, taking a deep breath as a worried look briefly crossed her face. "They would have noticed that before, right?"

Finn opened his mouth to answer her but was interrupted by a quick knock on the door before it swung open and Dr. Prystawski sauntered into the room.

"And how's everyone this afternoon?" he said, smiling at Finn and Rachel as he grabbed the ultrasound machine and pulled it closer to the examination table.

"Nervous." They both blurted out as Finn took a seat on the stool next to Rachel, grabbing her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Nothing to be nervous about." Dr. Prystawski said, flashing them a smile. "Okay Rachel I need you to lift your shirt for me and push down the waistband of your jeans." He squeezed a good amount of jelly on her abdomen before flipping the switch on the ultrasound machine and grabbing the wand. He rolled it over her stomach, spreading the jelly as he went and stared at the screen in silence as he tapped a few buttons on the keyboard.

"Is..is everything okay." Rachel said nervously, biting her lip.

"Everything's fine." Dr. Prystawski said reassuringly. "I was just trying to get a good visual on the babies. Why don't you watch your babies while I measure everything to make sure they are growing properly." He tilted the screen on the machine so that Rachel and Finn could get a good look at it.

"Look at them. Aren't they beautiful?" Rachel whispered as she stared lovingly at the moving black and white image on the screen. She didn't really have any idea what she was looking at exactly but those were her babies, their babies, and she was so happy. A single tear rolled down her cheek and she reached up to brush it away. Finn smiled and brought the hand he was holding up to his mouth and kissed it.

"They take after their mother in that way." Finn said with a smile.

"Have you decided whether or not you would like to know the genders?" the doctor asked, clicking a few buttons on the keyboard attached to the machine.

"We definitely want to know!" Rachel exclaimed, squeezing Finn's hand as he looked down on her with a huge grin on his face.

"Okay well this is baby A right here." Dr. Prystawski said, pointing out a moving white blob on the monitor. "Here is the baby's head, the back and the spine. There's the legs right there, and then the feet." The doctor moved the wand over Rachel's belly as he spoke. "Now if you look right here, do you see those three lines in a row?" He looked over at Rachel and Finn who nodded their heads in affirmation.

"What do they mean?" Rachel questioned.

"They mean that you should start buying some pink. Baby A is a girl." The doctor gave Rachel and Finn a big smile. "Now let's see about Baby B." He turned his attention back to the monitor and began pushing a few more buttons and moving the wand over Rachel's belly.

Rachel felt tears spring to her eyes. She'd always wanted a little girl and now she was getting one. She let her mind wander for a moment as she daydreamed of taking her daughter to her first ballet lesson and braiding her hair. She pictured all the beautiful dresses she would buy for her daughter. The feel of Finn squeezing her hand snapped her back to reality. She looked up at Finn to gauge his reaction and he smiled down at her.

"She's going to be beautiful just like her mother." He said, grinning at her.

"Okay I got baby B up on the screen now." The doctor said, getting Finn and Rachel's attention. He pointed out all the babies major body parts again, moving the wand around Rachel's abdomen as he showed them each little part. He moved the wand again and pushed a couple of buttons on the monitor before freezing the image on the screen for a moment so they could get a better look.

"Looks like you're going to have to buy lots of pink." The doctor said with a grin as he pointed out three distinct lines again. "Baby B is also a girl! Double trouble." He laughed.

"You're sure there isn't some man jewels hiding in there?" Finn said with a nervous chuckle.

"Well we never guarantee gender 100% because truthfully, things can be missed, especially with two babies taking up the room in there, but I looked pretty closely and I'm fairly positive that it's two baby girls in there. If it makes you feel any better, they are two perfectly healthy baby girls who are measuring right on schedule and growing beautifully." The doctor gave them a smile before handing Rachel the box of tissues. "Congratulations again, you two. I'll leave you to clean yourself up and we'll see you again in a couple of weeks."

"Are you upset because it's two girls?" Rachel said, after the doctor had left the room. Her lower lip quivered just the slightest as she questioned Finn.

"Of course not babe!" Finn said, helping Rachel to wipe the ultrasound jelly off her abdomen. "What makes you think that?"

"Well you did just ask the doctor about the boy parts being hidden. And I overheard you on the phone with your Mom the other night and you told her you hoped it was one of each so you'd have someone to teach football to."

"I just wanted to make sure he had the gender right, that's all. And I did think one of each would be cool, it's like the best of both worlds in one go, but two little girls is great too, Rach. I can teach them how to play football just as easily." Finn gave Rachel one of his signature half-grins as he helped her get down off the examination table.

"Are you sure." She said, avoiding Finn's eyes as she grabbed her purse off the chair.

Finn grabbed Rachel's hand and pulled her closer so that she was standing in front of him. Lifting her chin with his finger he made her look him in the eyes before he spoke.

"I'm more than sure babe. Two little girls who are going to be just as beautiful as their mother? What's better than that?" Finn leaned down to give Rachel a kiss on the lips before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a long hug. "C'mon, let's go home and call the grandparents." He said, releasing Rachel from his embrace and squeezing her hand as he headed towards the door. "Mom's going to be so excited!"

Finn didn't know how long he'd been staring down at the test paper in front of him but at some point the letters and numbers had all blurred together into one. Nothing was making sense to him. He rubbed his eyes for the millionth time since he'd sat down and glanced up at the clock. Two full hours had gone by since he'd started the test and he'd only gotten as far as writing his name at the top. He dropped his hand into his hands in resignation as he realized there was no way in hell he was going to be able to finish this exam. He had an hour left before the test time was over and about 2 hours worth of questions to get through.

It wasn't that he hadn't studied for the test. He'd studied hard, but Calculus was his toughest subject and things were so busy at home and with work that he'd had to drop his tutoring sessions with Lauren. Rachel had tried to help him a bit but Math was definitely not her strong point. Work was picking up and he'd been spending a lot of overtime there and if he wasn't at work, he was with Rachel. Because of the risk nature of carrying twins, she had twice as many appointments than normal and also more ultrasounds. She insisted that Finn didn't have to accompany her to all of them but he liked going and it made him feel closer to the babies. He may not have had a hand in conceiving them but he wanted to be as involved as possible in bringing them into this world and taking care of them. In addition to taking care of things on the medical side, there was a lot to taking care of Rachel on the personal side. She was well into her second trimester now at 30 weeks and if he thought teenage Rachel was demanding and emotional, it was nothing compared to heavily pregnant and overly hormonal Rachel.

It wasn't out of the ordinary for Finn to come home from work or school to find Rachel in an emotional tailspin. If she wasn't crying over something, she was yelling at him for something else. It was like living with a bipolar person. Thankfully her moments of normalcy outnumbered the crazy ones. On the bonus side, pregnancy made Rachel very horny and all too often when he got home at night she'd be ready to pounce on him and he was more than happy to oblige. They'd been having more sex in the last few weeks then they'd had their entire time together in high school. Rachel was also in full-blown nesting mode and their apartment had never been cleaner. He'd forgone studying a few times in the last couple of weeks just to help Rachel with something in the nursery. He couldn't say no to her when she gave him that pout of hers and it was that pout that also found him running out for food at 3am when Rachel had one of her cravings. Just last night he'd been out looking for mint chocolate chip ice cream for her. By the time he'd found some and gotten home, he'd managed to get maybe 4 hours of sleep before he had to be at work. He was so exhausted he'd almost fallen asleep at his desk twice today.

Finn frowned down at his test paper and let out a sigh. The way he saw it he had two options, he could stare at the test for another hour and still not know what the answers were or he could just leave and go home early and get some sleep. Choosing the latter, Finn stood up and quietly pushed his chair back, making his way towards the classroom door. Leaving his blank test papers behind on his desk, Finn shuffled out the door, failing to notice the concerned look on the face of the pretty redheaded girl sitting two seats behind him.

"Hi! How was your test?" Rachel asked Finn as he came in the apartment door.

"Uh..it was good." Finn said, avoiding her eyes as he leaned over the couch where she was sitting to give her a kiss. "I'm just going to jump in the shower."

"Wait! I want to show you something." She said excitedly, holding out her hand for Finn to help her get up off the couch.

"Tina and I went shopping for the babies this afternoon after I got off work and I wanted to show you what I bought the girls." Rachel exclaimed as she led Finn towards the nursery. Throwing open the door with a flourish she turned to Finn, a huge grin on her face.

"Ok I know I went a little crazy." Rachel said, gesturing to the large pile of clothes sitting on top of the changing table.

"Crazy? That's an understatement!" Finn said, his eyes bulging out of his head as he surveyed the size of the pile. "Did you buy the whole store?"

"It's just a few outfits Finn." Rachel said, indignantly. "I don't see what the big deal is. They need clothes!"

"Yes but do they need this many?" Finn said, walking over to the pile and picking up a pink cotton dress. He took a glance at the price tag and blanched. "Fifty dollars Rach? You spent fifty dollars on a dress?"

"No!" Rachel said, her voice rising in anger. "I spent a hundred dollars on two dresses. I had to buy two of everything. They are twins and they need clothes!"

"Clothes, yes. Fifty dollar dresses and twenty-five dollar sleepers, no!" Finn yelled, rifling through the clothes and checking each tag. "How much did you spend?"

"Not very much." Rachel lied, looking down at her hands to avoid Finn's glare.

Finn started mentally calculating prices in his head his face getting redder by the minute.

"You spent $500 on clothes Rach? What were you thinking?" he yelled, turning to look at her. "We can't afford all this. Take it all back tomorrow!" Finn walked across the hall to their bedroom, pulling his shirt over his head and throwing it at the hamper angrily.

"What is with you Finn?" Rachel yelled back, following him into the bedroom. "Just last week you were telling me you wanted the best for the girls and that you didn't care how much it cost. Now you're telling me that I spent too much. Where is this all coming from?"

"We're not made of money Rach. Your job only pays you so much and I won't get another raise until I finish school. Kids are expensive and we've got two of them coming. That's double the expenses."

"No one is forcing you to take care of us Finn. You can still walk away if you want to. We can take care of ourselves and then you won't have to worry about the expense." Rachel hollered, crossing her arms in front of her body as angry tears pooled in her eyes and threatened to spill over onto her cheeks.

Finn felt all the anger and frustration drain from his body, replaced with sadness as Rachel's words hit him hard. He walked over to his tiny girlfriend, pulling her into his arms. She reluctantly let him hold her, her body stiff with anger.

"Don't talk like that. Don't push me away, Rach. I want to do this. I want to be with you. I love you, and I love the babies. It's just…I.." Finn's statement was interrupted by a loud knock at the door.

Rachel removed herself from Finn's arms and quickly made her way to the apartment door. Frustrated from fighting with him she hastily threw the door open, a look of confusion on her face as she took in the tall, pretty redhead standing in front of her.

"Can I help you?" Rachel asked, looking up at the woman questioningly.

"Uh..I'm not sure." The woman replied with an equal look of confusion on her face as she looked at the apartment number on the door and quickly glanced inside the apartment before her eyes widened as they came to rest on Rachel's rather large abdomen. She quickly regained her composure, meeting Rachel's gaze. "I'm looking for Finn Hudson. Does he still live here?"

"Lauren. What are you doing here?" Finn questioned, coming up to stand behind Rachel, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"I came to check up on you. You left the test so suddenly tonight that I worried something was wrong, especially when I noticed your test was blank. Is everything okay?"

"Uh I'm fine." Finn said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.

"You told me your test went fine." Rachel said, whipping her head around to look at Finn, concern evident on her face. "What happened?"

"I just..I flaked. I had a hard time concentrating and I couldn't remember anything I learned. I've just been so tired lately I haven't really been able to do much studying or concentrating. It's not a big deal. I'll figure something out." Finn said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I knew you were having trouble with Calculus Finn, but you should have told me. This is my fault. I know that I've been hard to live with lately."

"I didn't want you to worry. It's not good for the babies. Being pregnant is stressful enough. I didn't want to add to it."

Lauren watched the exchange in front of her with confusion, her glance moving back and forth between the couple standing in front of her.

"I'm sorry but I don't think we've met." She interrupted. "I'm Lauren. I'm in Finn's class and I used to be his tutor." She held out her hand to shake Rachel's.

"Sorry that was rude of me. Lauren, this is my girlfriend Rachel. Rachel, this is Lauren." Finn said apologetically as Rachel shook Lauren's outstretched hand.

"I guess I've missed a lot since you stopped our tutoring sessions. I didn't even know you had a girlfriend, let alone that you were having a kid together." Lauren said, glancing once again at Rachel's distended abdomen. "When did that happen?"

"Well they're not mine but yes we are having a kid together. Two kids actually. She's having twins." Finn said quickly.

Rachel's entire body stiffened as anger once again filled her body. She crossed her arms in front of her body and fixed Finn with a glare. "They're not yours?" She said, her voice shaking in anger.

"Well you know what I mean Rach." Finn said, nervously, the look on his girlfriend's face making him nervous. "I mean they're not mine biologically."

"This is how its always going to be isn't it?" Rachel cried, oblivious to the third party watching their exchange. "You are never going to think of them as your own because they aren't yours biologically." The last word spit bitterly from her lips as she spoke.

"Rach that's crazy!" Finn spluttered. "I didn't mean it like that and you know it. I've told you millions of times how much these babies mean to me. I love them like they are my own. When are you going to get that through your head?"

"So now I'm crazy am I? The crazy woman carrying somebody else's kids?" Rachel fumed, stomping over to the livingroom.

"I'm just gonna go…" Lauren said quietly, slowly backing up from the door towards the elevators.

"No, you stay. I'm leaving." Rachel hollered at her as she came back to the apartment door holding her purse.

"Rach what are you doing?" Finn yelled, grabbing Rachel by the wrist, Lauren using the opportunity to make her escape.

"I'm leaving. The babies and I can do this on our own. They're not yours anyways so what does it matter. I'll go stay with Tina till I can find another apartment. I'll send my Dad for my stuff in a day or two."

"Rach this is ridiculous. Let's talk about this. It was a slip of the tongue. I love those babies. I don't care if I'm not their biological Dad. I feel like you've been looking for an excuse to push me away for weeks now. What is going on with you?"

Hot tears coursed down Rachel's face as she pulled her arm free from Finn's grasp. Her body sagged with fatigue as all the fight she had in her disappeared, replaced with only sadness and determination as she set her mind to what she had to do.

"Look its just better if we go our separate ways now rather than after the babies are here okay. It was a mistake for us to try and get back together. It's never going to be a good time for us and I can't be responsible for dragging you back down again. You've got a good career going here and I'm already screwing things up like making you fail your test so its just easier this way okay. I'm not pushing you away; I'm letting you off the hook. You're free. No obligation. Go be an amazing architect. The babies and I will be fine. I made it fine without you for the last 15 years."

"Please don't go Rach." Finn begged, his voice cracking with emotion. "You're not dragging me down. My life has been a million times better since you walked back into it. Why can't you see that?"

Finn pulled Rachel to him, lifting her chin with his finger so he could brush his lips across hers. "I love you." He said, tears forming in his eyes. "And I love our daughters."

"I love you too Finn. I always will. But it's just not going to work. I'm sorry." Rachel brushed her hand across Finn's cheek gently before turning on her heel and walking out the door, closing it behind her. She managed to maintain her composure long enough to make it to the elevators, pushing the button for the ground floor before her legs buckled and she sank to the elevator floor, loud sobs wracking her tiny body. On the other side of the apartment door, Finn too sunk to the floor, and buried his head in his hands, hot tears pouring down his cheeks as the sounds of his tears filled the apartment.

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><p><em><strong>Reviews are love :)<strong>_


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N:** Finally another update. I know I promised I'd be quicker with the updates but being pregnant is hard. At least I was quicker than I was with the last chapter :/ Thanks again for the all the reviews, alerts and subscribers. I'm glad some of you are still hanging onto this story. I love it so much I'll be sad when I am done writing it. Anyway I apologize for the angst but I promise it will get better very soon. Enjoy and hopefully I will live through tonight's finale to write the rest of the story. Only a couple more chapters left. As always, all mistakes are mine. _

_**Disclaimer:** I own nothing except my words._

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><p>Three weeks. That was how long it had been since Rachel had seen or spoken to Finn. Three very long weeks. Three very sad, very long, weeks.<p>

Rachel had been keeping herself busy with work, preparing lesson plans and getting her students ready for her replacement. She planned on working right up to the day she delivered if possible but she knew with twins that she was likely to go into labour early and she wanted to make sure her students were taken care of. It was actually a blessing in disguise that she was so busy because it helped keep her mind off Finn. He tried to call her at least three times a day but she ignored his calls every time. Even her own father tried to convince her to give Finn another chance but Rachel was nothing if not stubborn. Truth was, she was terrified of getting hurt again and her logic was that a small amount of heartbreak now was better than an intolerable amount of heartbreak down the road. Only problem with that logic was this wasn't a small amount of heartbreak, it was an intolerable amount and many a night went by that Tina could hear quiet sobbing coming from the guest room.

"Finn again?" Tina said, as Rachel's cell phone vibrated on the table between them. Tina had accompanied Rachel to her latest doctor's appointment and they had decided to grab a quick bite to eat afterwards before Rachel headed over to her Dad's office for a visit.

"Persistent isn't he?" Rachel muttered sadly, looking down at her plate as she pushed her salad around with her fork.

"Why don't you just take his call Rachel? He's hurting too. Finn never was very good with words and you know he never meant anything by what he said. You're just being your stubborn self and not admitting the fact that what you two have is not only rare, but real. Finn would rope the moon for you in a heartbeat if you asked him to and he was willing to do the same for those babies. You say you're afraid of getting hurt but you're already hurting yourself by running away from the greatest love of your life. Finn would never hurt you or those babies in a million years and you know it. You're just too stubborn to admit it."

"It doesn't matter anymore, Tina. Even if Finn didn't mean anything by what he said, he was still thinking it. No matter how much he loves me and says he loves these girls, in the back of his head he will always think about them as not being his and I will always wonder if that's how he feels. I can't spend my life living like that."

"You don't know that, Rachel. You're just making excuses because you are scared. You have got to stop doing this to yourself. All this stress is not good for the babies. You heard the doctor today. You're already starting to dilate." Tina said, giving her friend a reproachful glare.

"The only thing stressful in my life right now is you and Daddy pestering me about Finn. It's over between Finn and I. End of discussion. Now can we please talk about something else?"

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Finn tossed his phone on his desk with a sigh and ran his hands through his hair. Rubbing his eyes, he stared blearily at the drawings on his computer screen. He needed to have the changes to these drawings finished by tomorrow but he couldn't concentrate. Why wouldn't she just answer his calls? He'd been calling Rachel two or three times a day since she'd left to no avail. He'd half expected it. He knew how stubborn Rachel could be but he figured she'd eventually calm down and take the call or at least call him back.

Her father was surprisingly on his side and had been keeping Finn updated on how things were going with Rachel and the babies. He knew she had a doctor's appointment today to check on the babies and she was going to see her Dad afterwards so he knew Leroy would let him know how the appointment went when Finn called him later. When Rachel walked out on him three weeks ago he hadn't just lost one woman he loved, he'd lost three. Those babies growing inside Rachel may not have been his genetically, but he loved them just the same and he couldn't understand how Rachel couldn't see that. One stupid slip of his tongue that had meant absolutely nothing and his whole world crumbled around him.

Finn had hoped that after a few days of being mad, Rachel would have cooled off and come back to him but as the days turned into weeks his hope had started to fade. The day after she left, her Dad had come over to gather some clothes for Rachel, a sympathetic look on his face as he threw some outfits into a suitcase for her. He'd given Finn a reassuring pat on the back before leaving, telling him that Rachel would eventually come to her senses, she just needed some time.

Finn had been able to keep his mind off things most of the time because he was so busy with work and school but at night, when he was home alone by himself, he had a hard time coping. He hadn't been able to bring himself to open up the nursery room door since Rachel left. He assumed she'd be by for all her furniture when she got a chance and until then it just stood as a reminder of everything he had lost. He spent many a night, falling asleep in front of the TV to old reruns of I Love Lucy. He couldn't bring himself to sleep in his bed because it felt so empty without Rachel in it. Once again he found himself living his life on autopilot and going through the motions of his day to day but not really being present for it. Finn was startled out of his depressing ponderings by the sound of his cell phone vibrating. _Rachel?_ Finn scrambled to dig his phone out from amongst the mess of papers and junk strewn across his desk but his face fell as he saw Lauren's name flashing on the Caller ID.

"Hey Lauren." He answered a little dejectedly.

"Still no word I see." She replied.

"Nope."

"I'm sure she'll come around eventually. I'm just calling to make sure we are still on for tonight."

"Ya. I should be home around 6 or so."

"Ok I'll likely be there around 6:30 once I get home from work and get changed. I'll bring over a pizza."

"Ok sounds good. See you then."

After his calculus exam debacle Finn had gone in to speak to the professor and explained the situation. Luckily for Finn, his professor was a new father and could sympathize with what Finn was going through. He was allowing Finn to take a make-up exam in a week and Finn had been studying for it every chance he got. He'd asked Lauren to tutor him once again and they had been getting together every other night to study. As long as Finn passed his make up exam for Calculus and did well in all his other classes he would only have a year left in his degree before he could call himself a full-fledged architect. Not that it would matter if he didn't get his work done on time. These deadlines weren't going to meet themselves. Turning his attention back to his computer screen, Finn took a deep breath and pushed all other thoughts out of his head, determined to focus on the task at hand for the rest of the afternoon.

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Rachel knocked gently on her father's office door before entering. "Hey, Daddy."

"Hey princess." Leroy said, looking up from his papers. "How are my girls today?"

"We're fine Daddy. The doctor said I've already started to dilate so it won't be long now before the babies are here." Rachel replied, a sad, wistful look briefly passing across her face. She took a seat in one of the chairs in front of her father's desk and stared down at her hands in her lap.

"You know you still have time to make things right with Finn before these babies get here" Leroy said gently, his tone full of concern for his daughter.

Rachel blew out an exasperated puff of air. "Not you too Daddy! I already got this speech from Tina today!"

Leroy held his hands up in mock surrender. "I'm not trying to start a fight honey. I just want you to be happy. I know you think you're doing the right thing but I want to be sure that you're sure that this is what you really want."

"It doesn't matter what I want Daddy. It only matters that these two girls are happy, healthy and loved. I can't afford to take a chance on them getting hurt. I know these girls would love Finn with all their hearts and I couldn't stand it if I knew how much they adored him well all the while he's thinking 'Well, they're not really mine.' It would break all our hearts and I can't let us get hurt like that."

Leroy sighed deeply and looked his daughter in the eye. "Rachel, honey. Have you ever at any time in your life felt like I didn't love you or think you were mine?"

"No, of course not!" Rachel replied. "Why would you even think that?"

"I don't think that sweetheart. I'm just trying to prove a point to you. You say that you've never felt like I didn't love you or think you were mine yet you can't imagine Finn ever feeling that same kind of love for those babies growing in your body?"

"That's..that's completely different Daddy." Rachel said, a confused look on her face.

"Is it really darling? Because from where I'm sitting, it's the exact same thing."

"What are you talking about Daddy?' Rachel said.

"Oh sweetheart, you must realize it by now that I'm not your biological father. Hiram was. You've got his nose, his mouth, his sense of humour and most importantly, his skin colour." Leroy came around the side of his desk to sit in the chair next to his daughter. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I guess..I guess I never really thought about it before." Rachel said, her eyes filling with tears. "I mean I guess in my heart I knew, but I just never really thought about whose DNA I had, you two were my Dads. I never questioned the 'hows' and 'whys' of it."

"So what makes you think that these babies would ever question the 'hows' and 'whys' of their father? Any child that you take for you own becomes your own child when you give of yourself to them, and you and I both know that Finn would give his everything to those two girls, the same way he has always given his all to you. I know those girls would never question Finn's love for them. They wouldn't need to, because they would never go a day without knowing how much he loved them. DNA is the least of what makes someone a father Rachel. You and I are living proof of that."

Leroy lifted his daughters chin till she was looking him in the eye. Hot tears spilled out onto her cheeks as the magnitude and meaning of her father's words hit her and the realization that what he was saying was the truth and she had quite possibly thrown away everything by being so stubborn to not believe in the strength of Finn's love for her and the babies.

"I think…I've made a terrible mistake Daddy." Rachel said, wringing her hands in her lap. "What am I going to do?"

"Well I don't want to tell you what to do honey. This is your life. But I can tell you this. Less than an hour ago I was talking on the phone to a man who still loves you more than anything in this world. So much so, that he calls me everyday to ask how you are doing and how the babies are doing. Because he loves them just as much as he loves you and he needs to know that the three of you are doing okay. He's hurting too honey. And at this very minute he's sitting at home, so upset he can't even open up the door to the spare room he converted to a nursery for two beautiful baby girls he fully intended on bringing home from the hospital and loving for the rest of his life. Maybe you should go talk to him."

"He calls you every day?" Rachel asked quietly as her father's words sunk in.

"Every day." Leroy stated, standing up and pulling Rachel up with him. He pulled her in for a strong hug before releasing her and wiping the tears off her cheeks with a handkerchief he pulled from his pants pocket. "I think you know what you need to do sweetheart."

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"Thanks again for lending me your t-shirt." Lauren said, taking another bite of pizza. "It never fails that every time I wear a white shirt I end up spilling something on it. It's not usually something as big as an entire glass of Pepsi though."

"No problem." Finn said, taking a bite of his pizza as well. "I'm the world's clumsiest person. I know how it is." He smiled at Lauren before taking another bite. "So do you think I'm ready? I gotta pass this exam. I'm lucky that Professor Windsor was nice enough to give me another chance. I can't blow it again."

Lauren leaned over and put a reassuring hand on Finn's shoulder. "I have every confidence that you are ready. We've been over this stuff repeatedly. You know it backwards and forwards. Trust your mind. You'll get through this."

Rachel stepped onto the elevator and pushing the button for Finn's floor, she turned around to check her reflection in the mirrored glass walls. She ran her fingers through her hair and smoothed it down. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Rachel checked her face in the mirror one more time to make sure she wasn't red and puffy from crying at her father's office before stepping off the elevator and heading towards Finn's apartment.

Rachel fished in her purse for her keys. She still had the one for Finn's apartment so she figured she would just let herself in the apartment. For some reason knocking on the door of the apartment they once shared together felt wrong to her, like she was a guest in her own home, even if it had only been her home for a few months. Slipping her key in the lock and turning it, she quietly opened the door to the apartment and walked in. Dropping her purse on the kitchen table, she heard Finn's voice coming from the living room. Turning the corner into the room she immediately noticed Finn sitting on the couch. But he wasn't alone. The pretty redheaded girl from his Calculus class was sitting painfully close to him, her hand on his shoulder.

Sensing someone else in the room, Finn turned his head, noticing Rachel standing in the doorway of the living room. "Rachel!" he exclaimed, jumping up from the couch and moving towards her. "What are you doing here?"

"Why am I interrupting something?" Rachel said. Irritation and jealousy took over, only getting worse when she realized that Lauren was wearing Finn's old McKinley High Athletics t-shirt. The same t-shirt that she always slept in. Her shirt for all intents and purposes.

"What? No! Lauren was just helping me study for my Calculus makeup exam." Finn said, making a move towards Rachel. A look of hurt flashed across his face as Rachel backed away from him ever so slightly.

"It didn't look like much studying was going on." She remarked, backing up further towards the door. "And why is she wearing my shirt?"

"She spilled her..."

"You know what. Never mind. It doesn't matter. I'm too late." Rachel sighed in defeat, reaching for her purse. "I never should have listened to Daddy." She grabbed her purse and turned for the door.

"Rachel, wait!" Finn cried, his voice breaking with emotion as he realized he was going to lose her again. "This is just a misunderstanding. There is honestly nothing going on here. Please don't walk out on me again. Stay, talk to me. I'm begging you."

"I'm just…..I'm so…...I don't know what I am anymore." Rachel said, dropping her purse on the floor, her arms falling to her side. Finn closed the distance between them in an instant and pulled Rachel into his arms, determined to never let her go.

"You're mine. That's what you are. You've always been mine and you will always be mine and so will those baby girls. Oh god Rach! I've missed you so much. Just stay and talk to me please. I need you to stay." He smoothed a lock of Rachel's hair behind her ear before cupping her face in his hands and staring into her eyes questioningly, a look of hope on his face.

"Let me go please Finn?" Rachel said, quietly.

"No Rach! We need to talk. I'm not giving up. You know I'm not."

"I'll stay. We can talk. I just have to pee first." Rachel said rather sheepishly.

Finn chuckled and released Rachel from his arms so she could run to the bathroom. Turning around he saw Lauren quietly packing up her belongings, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

"Oh god Lauren I'm sorry, I almost forgot you were here."

Lauren laughed softly. "It's okay. I'm glad you two are going to get a chance to talk. I'm sorry if I made things worse. I didn't intend to. I'm just going to go. You're ready for your test. You're going to nail it. I'm sure of it."

She flashed him a small smile and threw her bag over her shoulder and headed towards the door.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. And thanks again for tutoring me. I really…"

"FINN!" came Rachel's anguished cry from the bathroom, interrupting Finn's sentence and sending his heart racing as he hurtled himself towards the bathroom door. He reached the door in record time just as Rachel opened it, a look of terror on her face.

"What's going on?" Finn said in a panic. "Is it the babies? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay..but I'm pretty sure my water just broke."

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><p><strong>Reviews are love <strong>


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N:** Thanks again for all the reviews, favourites and alerts you guys are giving this story. I planned on having this update up a lot faster this time but this chapter was the hardest one for me to write. I borrowed heavily from my own experience having my son to write this part of the story and since I'm due to go through this again in another 5 weeks I had a really hard time, emotionally, getting this chapter out on paper. I hope you enjoy it. Only a few more chapters left in this story and I'm going to miss it. Enjoy._

_**Disclaimer:** I own nothing except the grammar and spelling mistakes ;)_

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><p>Rachel slowly opened her eyes and squinted as she adjusted to the dim lighting of the room. It had been over 4 hours since Lauren had driven a frightened Rachel and a relatively calm Finn to the hospital. After checking to ensure that Rachel's water really had broken, the nurses had put her into a room and hooked her up to the machines so they could monitor her and the baby's heart rate. Rachel had been dozing on and off for the last couple of hours but it was beginning to be difficult to get any sleep now that her contractions were starting to pick up in timing and intensity.<p>

"Finn?" she questioned, her voice barely above a whisper. The gentle, rhythmic beeping of the monitor, the only other sound in the room

"I'm right here." Finn said jumping up from the chair in the corner of the room he'd been slumped in for the last couple of hours while trying to get some sleep.

"Can you get me some ice? My throat's really.."

The rest of Rachel's sentence was cut off by her anguished cry as a contraction took over her body. Squeezing Finn's hand tightly she tried to remember to breathe as she rode out the waves of pain.

"Okay babe you're right at the peak. Hang on, you can do this. Okay now you're starting to come down." Finn said soothingly, trying to ignore how tightly Rachel was squeezing his fingers as he watched the lines on the paper coming out of the monitor next to Rachel's bed.

Rachel let out a long breath as the last of the contraction petered out and she slowly released her death grip on Finn's hand as a wave of emotions washed over her and she began to cry.

"Hey ssshh…it's going to be okay Rach." Finn said, caressing her cheek with his free hand.

"I'm so sorry Finn." She managed to choke out through her tears.

"You don't have to apologize, babe. It's okay to cry. Your hormones are all over the place right now and you're in a lot of pain."

Rachel sniffed and wiped at her eyes.

"That's not what I meant. I mean I'm sorry for the walking out on you. I'm sorry for the last few weeks and putting you through all that. I'm an idiot. I should have never left."

"Rach, we've been over this at least three times since we got to the hospital. I told you to forget about it. None of that matters anymore. All that matters is that I'm here and I'm not going anywhere and we are bringing two beautiful girls into the world today and I will spend every moment of the rest of my life showing all three of you just how much you are loved."

Finn leaned over Rachel and brushed his lips over hers. "I love you so much." He murmured.

"I love you too." Rachel said as another contraction began, her grip on Finn's hand tightening once again as the pain in her abdomen increased.

Finn brushed Rachel's hair off her forehead as the contraction worsened. "Remember to breathe baby." He whispered, watching the monitor for the contraction to peak before starting to diminish. Rachel's breathing slowly returned to normal as her contraction once again ended.

"They're starting to come faster now." Rachel said, a worried look in her eyes.

"That's normal babe. That book you made me read said that this would happen. I'm going to go get you some ice okay. I'll be right back."

Finn stepped out of the room and headed down the hall towards the ice machine. Pulling out his cell phone he sent out a text to Rachel's Dad letting him know how things were progressing. He filled a Styrofoam cup up with ice and started heading back towards Rachel's room. He was halfway there when he saw a nurse moving quickly towards Rachel's room and pulling open the door as the sound of Rachel's anguished cry filtered out into the hallway. Finn's heart leapt into his throat as he dropped the cup of ice on the floor, and sprinted towards Rachel's room.

"Finn!" Rachel cried in relief as Finn threw open the door of her hospital room, his face pale as he moved quickly to the side of the bed to grab Rachel's hand.

The nurse, a kind looking older lady, looked worried as she surveyed the paper readout coming out of the monitor.

"What happened?" Finn said, addressing both Rachel and the nurse. "Is everything okay?"

"I had another contraction as soon as you left. It hurt so badly and you weren't here so I pushed the call button. I'm sorry about that." Rachel said, addressing the nurse.

"Perfectly fine honey, that's what we are here for." She gave Rachel a small smile. "I'm glad you pushed the button though. I don't like what I'm seeing on the monitor here. Your contractions are coming harder and faster and the babies just aren't responding as well as we'd like them too."

Rachel squeezed Finn's hand, worry lines creasing her forehead as she looked to him for assurance.

"Are the babies going to be okay?" Finn asked, trying to keep his voice steady so as not to frighten Rachel.

"We're going to do everything we can to ensure just that." She said, giving them a encouraging smile. "I'm just going to page your doctor. I'll be right back."

Finn watched the nurse quickly leave the room before turning to look at Rachel. Her eyes were wide with fear and quickly filling up with tears.

"It's going to be okay baby." Finn said soothingly, pushing back the hair that was matted to her forehead and placing a gentle, reassuring kiss in its place.

Finn felt Rachel's body tense up as she was hit with another contraction and his heart clenched as she cried out with the pain of it. He hated watching her go through this. Watching her in pain was heart wrenching for him because he wanted so much to be able to take the pain for her and there wasn't anything he could do but sit by and watch her hurting.

"Finn it hurts so much!" she whimpered, sounding like a small child.

"I know baby, I know. It's almost over. Just breathe through it okay. I love you."

"I love you too." She said between breaths.

The contraction had reached its peak and was coming back down when Dr. Prystawski walked briskly into the room. He gave Rachel and Finn a supportive smile as he walked over to take a look at the paper readout from the fetal monitor.

"Looks like these little ladies are getting to be a handful already." He said lightheartedly.

"Are they going to be okay?" Rachel questioned.

Dr. Prystawski came over to stand by Rachel's bed and gave her arm a reassuring squeeze.

"I just want you to relax okay? The babies are doing okay. They just aren't responding to your contractions they way I'd like to see. Their heart rates keep dropping and I'm just a bit worried about the stress that labour is having on them right now. I'd like to see them out sooner now, rather than later."

"What do you mean?" Finn questioned the doctor.

"I think it would be best if we take you in for a Caesarean section to get these babies out as soon as possible. I know it's not ideal and probably not the way you envisioned bringing these babies into the world but right now I feel that it's what is best for the babies. Do you have any questions?" Dr. Prystawski asked them.

Rachel and Finn looked at each other before looking at the Doctor, both of them shaking their heads no.

"Okay then. I'm just going to go get myself scrubbed and ready for the surgery and I'll see you in a little bit. Try and relax okay?" he said, leaving the room.

As soon as the doctor left Rachel was hit with another hard contraction and she cried out in pain, gripping onto Finn's hand and the side of her bed and squeezing for dear life. She scrunched her face up and tried to breathe through the pain as her abdomen tensed with the contraction. It felt like her stomach was being torn apart as the sharp pain spread through her entire belly. She was glad Finn was there holding her hand because it was helping to keep her somewhat calm. She could feel her pain starting to dissipate as the contraction came down from its peak and she turned her face to Finn's as he stroked the hair on the top of her head in a soothing manner.

"Thank you for being here." She said

"No where else in the world I'd rather be." He said with a smile, leaning over to place a kiss on her nose.

The door flew open as a couple of nurses came in to get Rachel ready to wheel her down the hall to the OR.

"Finn, I'm scared." Rachel said, quietly as the nurses bustled around her unhooking wires and fiddling with the bed.

"I know babe. I am too but it will be okay. The book I read said it's a perfectly safe procedure and I'm sure these nurses and doctors have performed it a hundred times. I'm going to be right in there with you so you don't have to be scared."

Rachel started crying as the nurses informed them it was time to go. Finn stood up and never let go of Rachel's hand as they began to wheel her bed out of the room and down the hall to the OR.

"Don't cry Rach. It's okay babe. Don't cry." Finn said as tears came to his own eyes.

"Okay Daddy, you're going to come with me." The kind nurse said, placing a hand on Finn's shoulder as they reached the swinging doors leading into the operating room.

"You mean I can't go in with her?" Finn said, trying to remain calm as Rachel's eyes filled with fear at the thought of going in the room alone.

"We just need you to come with us and get suited up into some scrubs while we get Rachel prepped for the section. Don't worry. It will only take about 10 minutes and then you can come into the room."

Finn let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding as he realized he would only have to be separated from Rachel for a few minutes. The nurse gave them both a comforting smile as she motioned for Finn to follow her into a room off to the side.

"I'll be right back okay babe?" Finn said, leaning over the bed and kissing Rachel's forehead.

Rachel looked up at Finn with tears in her eyes. "Hurry back?" she said, her voice cracking with emotion.

Finn gave Rachel's hand one last squeeze before letting go. He watched as the nurses wheeled her bed through the doors and disappeared before turning to follow the nurse into the room.

"Okay put these on over your clothes." The nurse said, handing Finn a set of green scrubs along with what looked to be 3 shower caps.

"What are these for?" Finn said, motioning to the shower caps. "Is it really wet in there?"

The nurse laughed loudly at Finn's question. "Surprisingly that's not the first time I've been asked that." She said. "One is to cover your head; the other two go over your shoes.

Finn gave the nurse a sheepish grin and began to get dressed.

"Just stay here until I come get you okay. Shouldn't be too much longer." The nurse walked out of the room, leaving Finn to finish getting dressed.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Rachel tried not to panic too much as the nurses and doctors bustled about the room preparing for her surgery. There were so many people in the room it seemed crowded but everyone knew what they were doing and were moving about like a well-oiled machine. She cried a little when they put in the IV and when the anesthesiologist administered the epidural. She wished Finn could be there to hold her hand while it was being done but she had to settle for the nurse instead.

Now she was laying flat on her back, her arms strapped out to the sides while the nurses put up a curtain just above her abdomen so she couldn't see what was going on. She didn't feel cold but for some reason she couldn't stop herself from shivering. One of the nurses had told her it was normal and had covered her chest with a blanket to help. Tears slid down the side of Rachel's face as she waited for what seemed like forever for Finn to come back in the room. Just then the door to the OR opened and in walked one of the nurses with Finn following close behind. Rachel could tell by the look on his face and the way he looked around the room that he was nervous but he tried not to show it as the nurse motioned for him to sit on the stool next to Rachel's head. A sob escaped her lips as Finn grabbed her hand in his.

"It's okay babe. I'm right here. Everything is going to be alright." Finn brushed away a few loose strands of her hair that had come out of the surgical cap on her head and leaned over to kiss her forehead.

"I'm just….so…glad…..you are…here." Rachel said, having a difficult time getting the words out through her chattering teeth.

"Like I said earlier, nowhere else I'd rather be."

"Okay Rachel we're just about to start. Tell me if you can feel this." Dr. Prystawski said from somewhere on the other side of the curtain.

"Feel..what?" Rachel said, confused.

Dr. Prystawski laughed. "I just poked you with some tweezers to test if the anesthetic was working. It looks like we are good to go so I'm going to start making the incision. We should have these babies out in a couple of minutes. You're going to feel a lot of pressure and pulling but it shouldn't be painful okay? Tell me if it starts to hurt."

The hustle and bustle of movement around the room became a blur as Rachel tuned everything out around her, waiting to hear the most beautiful sound in the world, a newborn baby's first cry. She could feel lots of pressure and pulling on her belly but it wasn't painful and she locked eyes with Finn as he held her hand, gently stroking her knuckles back and forth with his thumb in a soothing manner. He was her safe haven and staring into his warm eyes helped calm her down.

"And here comes the first baby." Dr. Prystawski said, before a plaintive cry filled the room. Rachel's heart swelled at the beautiful sound as the doctor lifted the tiny, squalling baby up and held her over the curtain for just a second before handing her off to the waiting nurses.

"She's so beautiful." Rachel said, her eyes quickly filling with tears. She glanced over to Finn to see tears streaming down his face as well.

"Just like her mother." Finn said, his voice breaking with emotion.

"And here comes your second little lady." came the doctor's voice again from behind the curtain before a second distinct cry filled the room. Another equally tiny, squirming, squawking baby was held over the curtain briefly before being whisked away by another team of nurses.

"I am so proud of you." Finn said, unabashedly crying now as he leaned over and kissed Rachel on the lips.

"Thank you. I couldn't have done it without you here." Rachel smiled at Finn

"Are the babies okay?" she asked, straining to peer around Finn to see where the babies had gone to. She could still hear them letting out intermittent cries so she knew they were still in the room. The doctors were busy stitching Rachel up but she didn't even notice as all her thoughts were focused on the two tiny girls on the other side of the room.

"They're fine babe." Finn said, peering over his shoulder to where two teams of nurses were busy working over the babies. "The nurses are just cleaning them up and stuff."

As if on cue, one of the nurses began walking towards them carrying a tiny bundle wrapped in a blanket.

"Here you go Daddy." She said.

Finn swallowed thickly before tentatively reaching out his arms so the nurse could place the squirming bundle into them. He looked nervous as the nurse showed him how to properly support the baby's head. Gently cradling the precious bundle he turned to Rachel, thick tears falling from his eyes.

"Daddy…" he breathed, marveling at the sound of the word. His heart swelled as the full weight and meaning of the word registered with him. He was a Dad.

"And what a great Daddy you will be." Rachel said, more tears falling as she looked into the face of the man she loved before focusing on the tiny little face peering out from the blanket.

"I wish I could hold her." Rachel said, as Finn held the baby closer to her face so she could kiss her.

"Soon babe." Finn said, smiling at his girls.

"And here's your other daughter." The nurse smiled at Finn as she placed a second squirming bundle into the crook of his other arm.

"You got them?" she asked, noticing the look of panic that briefly passed Finn's eyes as he adjusted to cradling two babies in his arms.

"I think so." He chuckled nervously, looking in awe from one arm to the next as two sets of dark blue eyes stared up at him.

"You'll get the hang of it eventually." The nurse laughed before walking away.

"Look at what you made Rach." Finn whispered, holding both girls at Rachel's eye level so she could get a good look at them. He brought the second baby to her face so Rachel could give her a kiss as well.

"I never thought my heart could hold this much love." She whispered.

"Ok Mom and Dad we're going to take the babies over to the NICU for observation while they finish working on Mom. Daddy you are welcome to accompany the girls over there if you would like."

"But they're okay right?" Finn said, looking down at the babies in his arm. He noticed a look of fear on Rachel's face and gave her a encouraging smile.

"They both scored a 9 on their Apgar scores which is a perfect score but because they are early and they came by c-section we just want to keep an eye on them for a little bit to make sure everything is okay. It's standard procedure." The nurse smiled reassuringly at both of them.

"Ok." Rachel said shakily. "Finn, will you go with them please?"

"Are you sure?" Finn said nervously, as first one nurse and then another took the babies one by one from his arms and placed them in isolettes.

"Yes. I don't want them to be alone. I'll be fine. It's more important to me that you stay with them."

"Okay." Finn said, getting up from his stool. "I love you."

Finn squeezed Rachel's hand once more before turning and following the nurses and babies out of the room.

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Rachel swallowed nervously as she stared up at the ceiling and a million thoughts raced through her mind as she lay on the bed.

"How are you doing Rachel?" the anesthesiologist asked her, startling her from her thoughts. She'd almost forgotten he was standing right there, just to the left of her head.

"I'm good." She said, "Are they almost done?"

"Almost." He said, giving her a comforting smile.

Looking back, those words would be the last thing Rachel remembered before everything went black.

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><p><strong>Reviews are love <strong>


	13. Chapter 13

_**A/N:** Sorry again for the long breaks between chapters. I am 15 days away from having my own baby and things are getting hectic around here so I am finding my writing time severely limited. Thanks again for the reviews, alerts, etc. They mean so much to me and are the reason I continue to write. Writing this chapter and the previous were very cathartic for me as I poured a lot of my own personal experiences giving birth to my son 3 years ago into these chapters. Everything that happened to Rachel also happened to me and writing about it helped to ease some of my worries about it happening again when I go in in two weeks to have my daughter. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter. It's very sweet and fluffy. _

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><p>Finn looked around the dimly lit room in awe. He'd never seen so many gadgets and machines in one place. From where he was sitting, he could spot at least 10 other isolettes placed around the perimeter of the room and each one of them had several machines placed around them. The room was very quiet except for the constant, rhythmic beeping of monitors. He glanced across the room and spotted a man and woman hovering over an isolette that was covered with a blue blanket. Like so many of the other isolettes in the room, theirs was surrounded by balloons, flowers and stuffed animals, signs that they had been there for a while. The woman glanced up and met Finn's gaze, giving him a small smile before turning her attention back to the isolette in front of her.<p>

Finn glanced between the two isolettes that were on either side of him. The twins were naked except for a diaper but they didn't look cold. They each had several round stickers stuck to their chests with wires attached to them and an IV needle in each of their hands. Finn didn't like how little they looked with all the stuff attached to them but they didn't seem to be bothered by it. They were both currently sleeping quietly while the machines quietly beeped away beside them. As Finn gazed upon the two sleeping babies he felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest. How was it possible to love two people so much when you'd only just met them?

Looking at their sweet little faces made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside and the thought crossed his mind that he would do anything to make them happy. He would die for them in an instant if he had to. The same way he would die for their mother if it came down to it. He would spend the rest of his life taking care of them and their mother and making sure they never wanted for anything. That was how much he loved them. The strong feelings of love he felt for these girls, his girls, overpowered him and he felt a tear slip down his cheek as his heart swelled with the sheer amount of love that was flowing through his body. He was a Dad. Sure it hadn't happened the way he'd always thought it would but none of that mattered anymore because it had happened with the girl he'd always dreamed of it happening with. Rachel had given him the greatest gift of all; she'd made him a father. He smiled and wiped away the tears as he thought ahead to all the great times they were going to have as a family.

"I think the girl's are settled for a bit if you want to go back down and check on your wife. They should have moved her to the OR recovery room now." The nurse said quietly, startling Finn out of his thoughts. '_His wife._' Finn liked the sound of that so much he didn't even bother correcting the nurse.

"How much longer are they going to need to stay in here?" he asked, standing up and stretching his legs.

"Just a couple of more hours." The nurse said with a smile. "They're doing great and breathing on their own. Once Dr. Prystawski has a chance to come in and have a look at them he'll probably okay them to be moved down to their mother's room. We will call your wife's room and let you know when you can come up and get them." She gave Finn a reassuring pat on the shoulder before walking away to check on another baby.

"I'll see you two in a bit." Finn whispered, laying a hand on first one isolette and then the other. "Daddy loves you."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Finn stepped off the elevator into the labour and delivery wing and headed for the nurses station to ask where the OR recovery room was. The nurse behind the desk pointed him in the direction of a large room at the end of the hall and Finn headed in that direction. When he got to the room he noticed several nurses hovered around Rachel's bed. They were snapping their fingers and calling her name. As Finn got closer he realized that Rachel wasn't moving and her eyes were closed. His heart leapt into his throat and he thought his knees were going to buckle out from underneath him.

"What's going on?" Finn said, his voice rising in panic.

"Sir, you shouldn't be in here right now." A nurse he wasn't familiar with came over and began trying to usher Finn out of the room.

"I'm not leaving till someone tells me what's going on!" Finn said, practically yelling now as his panic at what was happening to Rachel. "What's wrong with her?"

Just then Rachel let out a little cough and the nurse rushed back over to her side, Finn close at her heels.

"Rach? Baby?" Finn said, grabbing her hand. Rachel looked at him and gave his hand a weak squeeze. She opened her mouth to try and talk but all she could do was cough.

"That's it sweetheart," said the kind nurse who'd been with Finn and Rachel all day, "Cough it out hon."

"Is she okay?" Finn said, addressing the nurse.

"She's going to be. She just needs to wake up a bit more. Why don't you go and get something to eat or make some phone calls and give her a bit more time to come out of the anesthetic and then you can come back and see her."

"I'll be right back okay Rach." Finn said, leaning down to kiss her forehead. He gave Rachel a reassuring look before the nurse began to usher him towards the door.

"I don't understand what happened." Finn said quietly. "She was fine when I left with the babies."

"Rachel began complaining of pain when the surgeon was sewing her up. She was hysterical and screaming so the anesthetist put her to sleep so the surgeons could finish sewing her up. The drugs caused her blood pressure to drop drastically and we were having a hard time getting her to wake up from the anesthetic. She's awake now and once she's stabilized we'll be moving her to her room. Trust me, she's in good hands. No need to worry. Now, I have a feeling there are some grandparents that need to be called." The nurse gave Finn a wide grin and patted him on the back before holding the door open for him.

Finn started out the door before pausing to turn around. "Thank you." He gave the nurse a small smile before heading out the door.

Finn headed back down the hall towards the waiting room. When he arrived he found an anxious looking Leroy pacing back and forth.

"How is she? Are the babies here yet?" Leroy said, pulling Finn in for a quick hug.

"I was just about to call you." Finn said, settling himself down into a chair. Leroy sat down across from him.

"Rachel's fine. She just came out of surgery. They had some trouble waking her up from the anesthetic I guess but she's okay now. They told me they can move her to her room in a bit." Finn rubbed at his eyes.

"And the girls?" Leroy said hesitantly.

"They're perfect." Finn breathed out. A wide smile broke out on his face as he thought about the babies. "They're in the NICU right now being observed but the nurse said they are fine and should be able to come down to Rachel's room soon. They are so, so beautiful Leroy. They look just like Rach."

"It's a great feeling isn't it?" Leroy said, smiling knowingly at Finn.

"What's that?"

"Becoming a father." Leroy said. "I see the same look in your eyes that I had when Rachel was born. They've already got you wrapped around their fingers, just like their mother had me from the minute I laid eyes on her. Your world is never going to be the same."

"Well Leroy, if I'm being completely honest with myself, it hasn't been the same since the moment I laid eyes on Rachel back in high school. She's had me wrapped around her finger for years, even when we were apart. It's only fitting that these two would be the same. I just hope I can be even half the father you were, sir." Finn swallowed thickly and hesitated before looking Leroy directly in the eye. "I also hope I can be the kind of husband that someone like Rachel deserves. That is if you're okay with that." Finn looked down at the floor.

"Are you asking my permission to marry Rachel?" Leroy asked Finn, a hint of a smile playing on his face.

"Yes sir, that's exactly what I'm asking."

"Finn, I can't think of anyone I'd trust my most precious possession with more than you. I know you will be an amazing husband and an even better father. You're everything Hiram was to me and I know my girls will always be well taken care of. Of course you have my blessing." Leroy stood up, extending his hand for Finn to shake.

Finn stood and shook Leroy's hand before the man suddenly pulled him into a giant bear hug. Finn squeezed his soon to be father in law tightly as a few tears slipped from his eyes.

"Thank you sir. It means a lot to me that you say that." Finn said, pulling out of the man's embrace. "I really do love Rachel and those girls and I will spend the rest of my life showing them just how much. I came so close to losing them all sir. I won't let it happen again."

"I know you won't, son." Leroy clapped Finn on the back. "Now you should probably call your mother. I'm sure she is going crazy wondering what is going on. I'm going to go check on my baby girl and see if she's been moved to her room." He gave Finn's shoulder a squeeze before turning and heading down the hall to the nurses station.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Finn." Rachel said, as Finn walked into the room. Her voice was scratchy, a side effect of the anesthetic but her eyes were wide and bright as he came towards the bed. Leroy moved from his spot on the chair next to her bed so that Finn could sit down. She smiled happily at Finn as he sat down next to her and took her hand in his, careful not to touch the IV sticking out of her wrist.

"I'm just going to go grab a cup of coffee. I'll be back in a bit." Leroy smiled at them both before leaning down and giving his daughter a kiss on the cheek. He slipped out of the room quickly, leaving the new parents to themselves.

"How are the girls?" Rachel asked Finn, a hint of worry in her voice.

"They're fine babe. The nurse told me that they were doing great and she was just waiting for Dr. Prystawski to sign off on releasing them from the NICU."

"That's good. I miss them so much already." Rachel said, her eyes welling up with tears.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Finn said, brushing Rachel's sticky bangs from her forehead. "You were a rock star in there today babe. I'm so proud of you."

"I'm okay. I just really want to see my babies."

"Are you in a lot pain? Do you need anything?" Finn asked, his voice laced with concern for his girlfriend's well-being.

"I'm not too sore right now but the nurse told me that once the anesthetic they gave me to numb my lower extremities starts wearing off I'll start feeling a lot more pain. I'm not looking forward to that." She coughed a little and Finn immediately grabbed the pitcher of water sitting by the bed, pouring a glass for Rachel

"Well don't worry because I'll be here to take care of you." Finn brought the cup to Rachel's lips and held the straw for her so she could take a drink.

"I called my Mom and let her know the girls are here and that everything is fine. She insists on coming as soon as possible. She thinks we're going to need some help, more so you I think, so she is catching a flight out here first thing next week. I hope that's okay."

Rachel licked her lips and nodded. "I'm not going to be able to get around much for the first week or so and you'll be busy with work and you have your test next week so the help will definitely be needed."

Just then there was a quick knock on the door before it swung open.

"Special delivery." The nurse said in a sing-song voice, pushing an isolette into the room and disappearing back out the door for a moment before pushing another isolette through the doorway. "Here are your babies." She said with a smile. "Dr. Prystawski should be down shortly to check on how you are doing. Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm okay. I'm just a little tired and sore and anxious to see my babies."

"Okay well buzz us if you need anything. I'll leave you four to get reacquainted."

Finn stood up and walked over to the isolettes. Both babies were sleeping soundly, their tiny bodies swaddled in blankets so tightly that Finn wondered if it wasn't hurting them. He pushed the isolettes closer to Rachel's bed before reaching into one and delicately scooping up the sleeping bundle. He cradled the baby's head in one hand, her body in the other and marveled at the fact that she almost fit inside his one hand. He carefully placed her in Rachel's outstretched arms before walking back to the other isolette and scooping out the other, equally tiny bundle. He gently placed her in the crook of Rachel's other arm.

"I just love them so much." Rachel said, her eyes quickly filling with tears as she looked down at the sleeping bundles in her arms.

"I know babe. Me too." Finn said, leaning down and kissing Rachel softly on the lips before placing a tender kiss on each girl's forehead.

"I love you so much Finn. I'm sorry I ever tried to push you away."

"Never mind that. It doesn't matter anymore. All that matters is you and me and these two girls. We're a family now Rach. Finn Hudson and the Berry women against the world."

Rachel bit her lip. "I was thinking..that I wanted them to have the last name Hudson. If that's okay with you?" Rachel looked at Finn nervously.

Finn's own eyes filled with tears as he realized what Rachel was saying.

"Of course that's okay." Finn said, a huge grin breaking out on his face. "In fact, it works out perfectly.

"Why is that?"

"Because I'm really hoping that if my last name is Hudson, and the babies' last name is Hudson, then perhaps you'll also want to have the last name Hudson." Finn looked nervously at Rachel as he waited for his words to sink in with her.

Rachel drew in a shaky breath, the tears in her eyes spilling out onto her cheek as she realized what Finn was saying.

"Are you saying what I think you are saying?" Rachel asked him.

Finn drew in a breath before he spoke. "For a long time Rachel, I felt like I wasn't complete. When you and I lost touch 15 years ago, I felt like I lost a part of me. I didn't feel whole again until I ran into you all those months ago. It was like getting back the part of me that I was always missing and it was the best feeling in the world. And then when I found out about these babies it was like getting back the one thing I'd always wanted and realizing that I was getting back all that and then more. I have never been this happy in my entire life and I want to spend the rest of my life trying to make you feel as happy as I do right at this moment. I know this probably isn't the way you always dreamed of this happening and I don't even have a ring right now but Rachel Berry, I am so incredibly, unbelievably, head over heels in love with you. Will you marry me?"

Rachel listened to Finn's sweet words, her heart swelling with love at the things he was saying and she knew in her heart what her answer was. It was the only answer she knew. She had loved this man for so long it wasn't even a question anymore.

"I thought you'd never ask." She teased, an enormous grin breaking out on her face as Finn leapt from his chair and placed both hands on her face, pulling his mouth down to hers as he poured all his feelings into a kiss. He slowly pulled his face back, looking Rachel deeply in the eyes before glancing down at the two sleeping bundles nestled gently in their mother's arms.

"I love you." He breathed. "All of you." Finn gently stroked each babies' head, a look of pure contentment on his face as he took in the sight of his family.

"So Daddy," Rachel began, looking at her beautiful daughters as she spoke, "have you thought at all about what we are going to name these two?"

"Well I figured I would leave that up to you. You did do all the hard work." Finn said sheepishly.

"That's true, but I still want you to be a part of naming them. If you want to I mean."

"Well there were a couple of names I found in that baby name book that I really liked but I…I never got a chance to tell them to you before…" Finn trailed off, looking down at his shoes. The truth was Finn had spent a lot of time thinking about baby names before him and Rachel had had their fight and he'd never gotten a chance to mention them to her before everything had gone to hell.

"I'd like to hear them now." Rachel said softly, motioning for Finn to take one of the babies as her arms were beginning to get sore. She watched with adoration as Finn ever so gently plucked the tiny baby from her arm and settled himself back into the chair, brushing a thumb across the baby's tiny cheek before leaning down and kissing her softly where his thumb had just been.

"Well," he said, meeting Rachel's gaze, "I think the name Harper is really pretty. And I also like the name Avery. I think they go well together too. What do you think?"

"I love them." Rachel said, looking down at her daughter nestled in her arms. "Harper and Avery. Perfect names for perfect girls."

"What about middle names?" Finn asked.

"Well I was thinking that we could give one of them the middle name Grace, after my Nana Berry who passed away when I was 5. And I was hoping…that we could give the other baby the middle name Carole, after your Mom. What do you think?"

"I think," Finn said, his voice deep with emotion, "that my Mom would love that more than anything…and I love you more than anything for suggesting it in the first place. Seriously babe, thank you."

"So." Rachel said, looking down at her daughter. "Who is who?"

"That's a good question." Finn said with a chuckle. "Um..I guess we could ask them. Ok girls, which one of you would like to be named Harper?"

Rachel laughed at the absurdity of asking a newborn baby for an answer but just then a tentative cry rang out that quickly turned into a full on wail as the baby girl in Finn's arms began to wake up.

"Looks like we have a volunteer." Finn chuckled, before bouncing his arms and making gentle shushing noises to try and calm the crying baby.

"So I guess that makes you Avery." Rachel said, looking down at the baby in her arms. "Hopefully Daddy and I will be able to remember who is who."

"I'm sure we will." Finn said smiling at Rachel. He had just managed to quiet down the little one in his arms when her sister began wailing from her spot in Rachel's arms.

"And so it begins." Rachel chuckled as Avery's cries became louder and more demanding and Harper joined in as well taking the volume in the room up a couple of notches.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Finn said with a grin as he got up to help Rachel prepare to feed the babies. "I'm used to the demands of Berry women and I look forward to many years of spoiling all three of them. I can't wait."

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><p><strong>Reviews are love<strong>


	14. Epilogue

_**A/N:** Well folks, here it is. The final chapter of The Back-Up Plan. I have loved writing this story and seeing how much everyone else loves it as well. I apologize for leaving you with such a short final chapter but time has gotten away from me and I go into the hospital tomorrow morning to have my daughter. I've been writing this over the past few days while contending with a toddler who knows his whole world is about to change and has decided now is the time to channel Satan and also while having false labour contractions. I want to thank everyone who favourited this story or left a review. They mean so much to me. This was my first time writing a multi-chapter fic and when I started I wasn't sure if I could do it. I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. _

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><p>Rachel awoke with a start, her eyes quickly adjusting to the dim light of the room. She wondered for a moment what had woken her up so suddenly when she realized the other side of the bed was empty. Noticing a faint light creeping into the room from the bedroom door, she sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Putting on her slippers and housecoat, she padded across the room and opened the door. Seeing that the light was coming from the nursery, Rachel tiptoed across the hall. Sneaking a peek in the door of the nursery she smiled as she took in the sight in front of her. Finn was sitting in the rocking chair with both girls in his lap, gently rocking them back and forth and murmuring quietly to them. Harper looked up at Finn with wide eyes as he talked but from her spot at the door Rachel could see Avery's eyes were drooping and she was almost asleep as she sucked on her thumb. Rachel crept closer as she tried to make out the words coming out of Finn's mouth. When she finally realized what he was saying, she had to keep herself from giggling and disturbing the beautiful moment she was observing.<p>

"And then Mommy told Daddy that she was a stunning young ingénue and he was the hot male lead and people expected them to be together and honestly, Daddy was a little scared. He sometimes wondered if he checked under his bed would he find Mommy hiding there. But then Daddy heard Mommy sing and her voice was like an angel. It touched something in Daddy and he was never the same. It was then that Daddy knew he loved Mommy and he would always love her until the day he died."

Rachel held back a tear or two as she quietly backed up away from the nursery door and made her way back to bed, her heart full of so much love for the three people in that room that it felt like it would burst.

_**10 months later….**_

Finn's heart swelled with love as the music started and he watched two adorable little girls toddle their way up the aisle, each holding the hand of Tina, Rachel's maid of honour. Dressed in beautiful white dresses that matched their Mama's, he smiled as Harper and Avery caught sight of Finn at the end of the altar, squealing a simultaneous "Daddy!" as huge smiles broke out on their faces, causing the crowd in the church to laugh. Tina led the girls to the top of the aisle and handed them off to Finn's mom before taking her place at the altar. Finn blew his daughters a kiss as they waved frantically at their father from their spot in the first pew. Anyone who didn't know any better would never know that the two 14-month old girls were not Finn's biological children. With their wavy brown hair, beautiful amber-coloured eyes and adorable freckles and dimples, both girls looked very much like Finn. People often commented on how much both girls looked like their father and neither Finn nor Rachel ever corrected them. They would just smile and say thanks.

The music changed and everyone stood as Rachel began to make her way down the aisle. Finn's heart caught in his throat as he took in the sight of his beautiful bride walking in on the arm of her father. Rachel caught his eye and smiled, tears already forming in her eyes as she locked her gaze with Finn's, his trademark half-grin he saved only for her plastered on his face. Rachel kept her eyes locked with Finn's as she made her way up the aisle towards him. She only glanced away once as two little girls yelled "Mommy!" as she neared the altar. She smiled at her daughters before returning her gaze to the face of the man she was about to pledge her love to for the rest of eternity. As she reached the altar, her father lifted her veil and kissed her on the cheek before taking her hand and placing it in Finn's outstretched one and as Finn led her towards the top of the altar all Rachel could think about was how perfect everything had worked out and how sometimes the best laid plans don't always end up going the way they should, sometimes, just sometimes, having a back-up plan is even better.

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"So how does it feel to be Mrs. Hudson?" Finn murmured in her ear as they swayed back and forth on the dance floor, the strains of Journey's "Faithfully" playing gently in the background as Finn and Rachel enjoyed their first dance as husband and wife.

"It feels..like home." Rachel said, standing on her tiptoes to place a chaste kiss on Finn's lips.

A squealing noise startled the two lovebirds out of their reverie as two little girls came toddling onto the dance floor, a flustered Kurt chasing after them.

"Mama!" Harper hollered as she reached Rachel and thrust her arms up in the air to be picked up, Rachel obliging.

"Sorry guys." Kurt said sheepishly

"It's okay." Finn said, reaching down to scoop up Avery as she clung to her father's pantleg.

"It's fine Kurt. Go relax." Rachel giggled, nuzzling her daughter's cheek.

"I guess they didn't want to miss out on the first dance." Finn chuckled, putting one arm around Rachel's waist as he cradled Avery between them with his other. Rachel adjusted Harper in her arms so she could use her other arm to cling to Finn as the foursome began swaying once again to the music.

"I love you so much Finn." Rachel said, her heart full as she looked up at him and saw their daughter with her head nuzzled into his neck, her thumb in her mouth as her eyelids drooped.

"I love you too Rach. And I love our family. Thanks for giving me such a wonderful gift and thanks for making my life perfect just by being in it."

"For the record Finn, it was you who made my life perfect, and it's about to get even better."

"Well I don't think that's possible. It's already the best. What could possibly improve on it?"

Rachel looked up at Finn with tears in her eyes and a radiant smile on her face.

"I'm pregnant."

**THE END**

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><p><strong>Reviews are love<br>**


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